Please Wake Up
by Genseeker25
Summary: Cindy is in a coma. Only Jimmy can bring her back to the waking world and when he does something from Cindy's worse nightmare follows.  This is a multifaceted adventure that stems from the dream world to the waking world.
1. Accidental Beginnings

A/N: I don't own Jimmy, Cindy, or any other amazing characters I have ever loved. But I wish I did.

Jimmy and Cindy were holding hands and walking along the small country lane. They had been dating for about six months beginning the night he first kissed her. Something had been building between them for months leading up to that kiss but it irrevocably changed their relationship. Maybe he felt empowered by the kiss but regardless he had managed to find the courage to ask her to be his girlfriend that very same evening. He anticipated she would say yes and her eager acceptance was reassuring to say the least. They had become inseparable before but they were now bound by the Gorlockian seal of trust.

They had found the country lane on one of the first official dates they had been on together. When you have a hover car that can travel at four hundred and fifty miles an hour it pretty much means sky's the limits for destination options. They had danced in Paris, eaten pasta in Italy, drank fruity drinks out of coconuts in Hawaii just to name a few. The list is too extensive to fully list and it is better to be left up to the imagination.

They country lane was a perfect match for the one they had imagined when their brains were converged as one in his virtual brain pod during the trading faces incident. Cindy was really flattered by the gesture. They had walked along it and acted out the simulation at least once a week. But of course it was the island that they had shared that was their favorite destination. The Andes Mountains can be majestic to behold as can the depths of the Grand Canyon but to Cindy and Jimmy there was nothing on Earth as beautiful as the secret island they shared.

They had spent their entire winter break from school on the island together. Jimmy had arranged for their absence easy enough with one of an infinite number of excuses. But the week was at an end. They did the customary cleaning that would tide the rebuilt tree houses over until the subsequent visit the following weekend. Cindy was waiting for Jimmy down the by the shore. She was seated on the log where he first gave her the nicest gift anyone had ever given her, the pearl. He joined her to watch the final sunset on what was the greatest week of fun, sun, and adventure. He sat down quietly and gently took his hand in hers. They stared for a moment lovingly into each others' eyes and turned to watch the sunset with their heads pressed together. She thought to herself that Jimmy had already given her the nicest gift (the pearl) but now he had given her the greatest gift (his heart).

They arrived back in Retroville around 11PM. She had opted for dropping the hover car off by the school so they could enjoy the night air together before they would have to retire to their respective houses for the evening. Sure they would see each other first thing in the morning for their walk to school but as I already stated they had become inseparable.

Along their way home Cindy checked her cell phone and found she had twenty messages from Libby asking how her week with Jimmy went. She typed out a quick reply saying she would explain as soon as she got home. She didn't notice the ball in her path that some kid had carelessly abandoned on the side walk. Jimmy had his arm around her waist as they walked so it was easy enough for him to stop her from falling but her cell phone landed in the street.

Jimmy went to retrieve it. He heard the sound but it was so sudden that his mind raced to figure out what it was. It was the sound of a car engine as it raced along the road. Some foolish teenagers out in their hot rod joy riding around apparently. The head lights were blinding as the car came right at him. He stared in a mix of shock and horror as he realized the car was going to hit him.

Cindy was smiling as Jimmy went to retrieve her phone. He was so sweet to her. She could not have asked for a better week or a better boyfriend. He could be so cute sometimes. Now that they had become close he spent a lot of time explaining everything to her in a polite understanding way that was completely in contrast to the condescending way he used to when he was simply trying to show off.

She saw the head lights of the car coming in the distance and it took her a moment to realize that the car was coming a lot faster than it seemed. Her heart dropped when she saw that it was on a dead on collision course with Jimmy. She reacted the only way she could think off. She had saved him in the same manner on the island from the giant Venus fly trap. It had worked then and a primitive part of her mind believed it would work again. She ran and shoved Jimmy as hard as she could.

He heard the mumbled shout of warning before the hit came. But it didn't come from the approaching car. Instead something small and hard hit him from the side. He pitched hard and hit the ground as he rolled to a stop. His elbows ached and his injured knee was bleeding through the thickness of his blue jeans but other than that he was ok. Tires screeched as the car came to a halt yards down the road. It was then that he saw Cindy lying in the road.

**3 months later:**

The room went quite as Jimmy walked into the class with his head hung low. It was his first attempt to come back to school in the last 3 months. His eyes were bloodshot from crying and lack of sleep. He was only twelve years old but seemed so worn out.

Sheen tried to cheer Jimmy up by quoting some random Ultra lord line but was cut off midsentence as Libby pushed past him and gave Jimmy a tight almost smothering hug. They spoke briefly then Jimmy just quietly took his seat. Carl greeted him as cheerful as he could but it fell flat when he saw the despair in his best friend's face. Jimmy opened a worn leather bound journal and jotted some notes in it before Miss Fowl arrived.

The lecture began and Jimmy did the best he could to pay attention but his mind raced over his calculations. He wasn't any closer to a solution. But he had to find one. The doctors didn't have any answers. They had done all they could. It was up to him. The anxiety gnawed on him and the guilt. It took all his effort to not look to his left. But it wasn't enough. His eyes glanced to the empty seat next to him, the one that should be filled by Cindy. His heart ached with longing and his eyes stung as the tears welled up. He missed her so much he felt like the pain was going to actually kill him. His sudden sob startled Mrs. Fowl as prepared as she had thought she would be for this.

"Jimmy?" Her voice squawked. "Would you like to be excused?" He nodded and quickly slipped out of the class room. Before he was even down the hall the class room erupted with chattering. He droned it out and started to run.

9:00PM

His parents walked in the hospital room and found Jimmy where he had been every night for the last three months. The nurse that escorted them in whispered that they should keep it down since he had only fallen asleep fifteen minutes ago. He was hunched over in the chair with his head resting on the side of her bed; the fingers of his right hand were interlaced with her left hand. The nurse had laid a sheet over him and he never stirred.

He was so tired. He had been working around the clock to find a means of helping her. The only time he rested was when he was sitting by her side watching over her. He had fallen asleep right there next to her every night. The Hospital administrator tried to object at first but the mayor owed Jimmy a favor from the countless times he saved the town, so the rules were bent to allow him full time access to her room. His parents, Principle Willoughby, and Miss Fowl knew how much she meant to him so they gave him the leave of absence from school he requested. It would mean he would be making up for it over the summer but he didn't care. Only she mattered to him. If he failed she would never wake up from her coma. If he succeeded they could take the summer classes together.

He woke up on a hospital cot. He was surprised that he hadn't woken up when they had moved him. He must have been more worn out then he had realized. He slipped out from under the stiff bleached hospital sheets and stood bare foot on the cold tiled floor. He took her hand sat and watched her breath in and out. He begged her as he had done every night to wake up. "Please wake up…"

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

He held her hand and repeated the words over and over as the tears welled up in his eyes again. They stung as they ran down his cheeks. He wiped his nose and winced from the sensitivity of the raw tissue. He supposed that he should have been used to it by now. He would have to invent a form of tissue that was more effective at preventing the nose from getting raw from constant blowing. The distraction only took his scientific mind for a moment though.

His chest heaved announcing the commencement of the sobs that came uncontrollably. He squeezed her hand tighter in his and knelt down feeling the hard tiles through his pants. He spoke through the sobs, to her about the adventures they had been on together. He spoke of the adventures they still would go on as soon as she recovered from this. He wasn't sure if he was wasting his time by doing this but he had read somewhere that people in comas sometimes could hear the voices in the room around them. He wanted to believe she could hear him. No, he had to believe she could hear him.

Her eyes fluttered as she groaned in her sleep. He knew from his research that she was in an R.E.M. state. He often wondered what she was dreaming about. Did she dream about him? Did she dream about what she had sacrificed?

He promised her that he would find a way to wake her up. He stared at her hoping for some sign that she understood but she just continued to sleep. He kissed her gently on the lips before slipping out of her room to head back to his lab.

**Back in his lab:**

His frustration mounted and he paced around his computer chair. He spoke out loud and demanded answers to his problem. Vox spoke up in response but only reported that she had no data for such a solution. He told Vox he was just venting but that he was thankful for her attempt and didn't need anything else from her for the time being.

He had fixed everything physically wrong with her body including the extensive lacerations and broken bones. He had used a skin sample to grow stem cells that were precisely placed inside using the most advanced nanobots he had ever created. The army of nanobots filtered through her body and replaced damaged tissue and mended the bones. Repairing her broken legs and ribs was easy but the hard part was repairing her shattered mind.

The surgeon had fixed the internal bleeding in her head which would have killed her if they hadn't operated when they did. Their work gave Jimmy the time he needed to create the new edition of the nanobots and the cells that had repaired her entirely. Her brain and body were fully repaired yet she still hadn't woken up from the coma and they were beginning to think she never would.

His mind had played over the accident over and over again. If only she hadn't pushed him out of the way. If only she stayed on the sidewalk where she had been safe. Oh, damn it Cindy! Why did you have to be so brave?

He had to do something. He would have to go into her mind the same way he had gone into Carl's. It would be dangerous of course. He had discovered that if he was injured in the dream world that he would be hurt for real. But she was worth the risk. She was worth dying for. For any other reason than for the fact that she would do it for him, it was his love for her that drove him forward.

To be continued…

A/N: thanks for reading


	3. Chapter 3

He had to modify the Dream Injector 5000 to be able to link with Cindy in her hospital room. He didn't want to risk moving her. The modifications were easy enough and he already had a template of her brain waves from the time they shared the virtual brain pod together. Vox would handle the calibrations once he plugged in the data of course but it would take a few days to fine tune it for the distance.

He made no attempt to keep what he planned to do a secret. He didn't want anyone to worry if something went wrong and he didn't return. His parents voiced their concerns but the look in his eyes was enough for them to give up and simply offer moral support. Everyone in town came by his house to give their best wishes. The overall consensus was that they had faith in him and if anyone could save Cindy he could.

His friends begged to come with him especially Libby. But he explained it was just far too dangerous and he couldn't in all good conscience let them come with him. Besides he reminded them that he would have Goddard with him. Goddard barked happily at the recognition. Libby insisted on helping in some way so in private Jimmy arranged for her to monitor the controls to the Dream Injector while he was under. He explained that it was better to minimize who was witness to his journey into Cindy's mind because it would be an invasion of her privacy and he didn't want Carl and Sheen to see anything that they would "accidently" tell other people. Libby agreed completely and then pointed out the fact that as her best friend Cindy wouldn't mind so much if she was there.

He set up two way radio headsets that they could use to communicate. He planned to enter Cindy's dreams in 72 hours which would give him and Libby the necessary time to conduct research on dreams.

Of all the people he was visited by it was Mrs. Vortex that surprised him the most. He could tell she had been crying by the smudged mascara (not that she would ever admit it of course). She spoke in a soft tone he didn't think she was capable of. Her words came out broken as she tried to hold back the tremor that betrayed that she was on the verge of crying again. She told him that she was thankful that her daughter had someone like him fighting in her corner. That Vortex's weren't used to asking for help but that as a mother she had no one else to turn to. She begged Jimmy to save her daughter before she finally did lose control over her tears. She turned away in shame and walked away as quickly as she had come. Jimmy simply stood in awe in the direction she had gone.

**Cindy's room:**

It was only a few hours left till the deadline he set to enter her mind but he wanted to spend that time with her. He held her hand and whispered in her ear of what he was about to do. He told her how much she meant to him. He held nothing back. He explained that he had been reading up on poetry and how to be romantic recently so that when she woke up he could better express his feelings for her.

He brushed her long blonde hair back over her right ear and kissed her softly one last time. Her hair still smelled like jasmine. He spent one last moment staring at her eyes willing them to be open. He wished with all his might but her eyes remained closed. He longed to see the green sparkle. He would give anything to see that smug grin on her beautiful face again. "Oh Cindy….won't you please wake up?"

**The lab:**

Everything was ready. Libby had spoken to her mother who knew a lot about dreams. She had told Libby that she believed it would be best if Jimmy brought something that was very special to Cindy along with him into the dream world. It would help serve as an anchor for not only Cindy but for Jimmy as well. She also had a warning for him. Don't get caught up in the dreams yourself lest they take you along with them.

Libby had done Jimmy a favor by stopping by the Vortex residents to grab an item that she knew without a doubt that Cindy cherished. She opened the small silver colored box with a large V in the center of the lid. The inside of the box was lined with soft red velvet and right there in the center of it was the sparkling pearl.

He took the box carefully in his hand and stared down at the tiny perfect sphere. It had taken him several hours and 137 oysters to find it. He remembered how nervous he was when he presented it to her. He was so happy that she reacted as happily to his gift as she had and he was even happier to know she cherished it enough to have kept it the way she had. The box was clearly expensive and could have been used for an infinite amount of purposes and this is what she chose to use it for. His face flooded from the flush of heat and his heart skipped a beat as the feeling of being loved over whelmed his senses.

Libby snapped her fingers in front of his nose snapping him out of it. He hadn't realized it but he zoned out for a minute or so. He flushed again from embarrassment and placed his hand on the back of his neck as he tried to think of what to say. But Libby just grinned and shook her head.

She hugged him and wished him good luck reminding him to come back safely and with her best friend in tow. He nodded in acknowledgement. Goddard stood next to Jimmy patiently on the platform when the Dream Injector 5000 whirled to life. The audible hum sent vibrations throughout the lab and Jimmy felt the static charge in the air as the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He looked at Goddard and asked him if he was ready to save Cindy. Goddard barked an eager response and with one last look at Libby Jimmy ran forward into the portal with Goddard in hot pursuit.

To be continued….

A/N: thank you for all your favorite story alerts and moral support.


	4. The Wedding

Jimmy felt like he was stretched and twisted as he materialized on the other side of the portal. Goddard wobbled for a moment before gaining his balance. Jimmy asked him if he was alright. The robotic dog nodded and the chest panel flipped over revealing the message "ready when you are master."

Jimmy and Goddard found themselves in a long corridor full of unmarked doors. He knew that it was simply his mind's way of understanding what was in here. He guessed that if she was in here he would find her behind one of these doors. But which one would be the right one?

This was different then when he went into Carl's mind and a part of him was really glad that it wasn't Sheen's mind. He would probably be attacked by an army of Ultra lord dolls by now. The thought made him chuckle for a moment until Sheen's voice cut across the ethereal realm and rocked Jimmy to the core **"they're action figures not dolls!"** Jimmy decided it would be time to recommend some therapy for Sheen when he got back to the real world.

He asked Libby if she had any advice. Libby called her mother real quick and then responded that he should be careful because each door would contain a realm based on Cindy's fears and desires. Some would be dreams and others could be nightmares. He should be prepared to face the things that would scare her and to not let them stop him if he intended to get to her. She would be guarded in the very recesses of her mind where she had retreated.

He chose the door nearest him to start with. He would try every door he found until he was where he wanted to be. Nothing would stop him. He gritted his teeth and went through the door with Goddard right behind him. He hadn't seen the little girl watching him in the shadows of the corridor. But her large green eyes glinted for a moment before she slipped in to the open door after Jimmy the closing door just missing one of her blond pig tails.

**In the first door way:**

He looked around and it seemed like he was in Retroville. "Testing, testing, can you hear me Libby?" There was static for a moment and Libby came over loud and clear relaying that she could see and hear him. After a quick discussion with Libby it was decided that he clearly wasn't in a nightmare and it would most likely be safe to proceed forward since it appeared like he was in a sunny version of Retroville.

He wandered the streets of Retroville but the town seemed strangely deserted. The streets were clear of debris and everything seemed really pleasant yet the thought gnawed at the back of his mind whether he was really in a nightmare or a dream. His thoughts were interrupted when church bells tolled in the back ground. The music was beautiful and the acoustics of the relatively empty town carried the sound better than would have been possible in the real world. He headed cautiously in the direction of the music until he found the Retroville town church. He discovered that the whole town was there seated for a wedding.

He slipped inside and no one seemed to notice him. He got the impression that he was intangible to the people he saw around him and merely a witness to something that had been rehearsed many times before.

The wedding began and he watched as the bride walked down the aisle. Even though she was veiled he easily identified the male escort as Mr. Vortex. Clearly Cindy had dreams about being married. He assumed that it was most likely a common thing for girls to do that. He recognized everyone in the audience of course. There was an older version of everyone he had ever known including Sheen and Carl but he didn't see an older version of himself.

He felt almost guilty yet at the same time a little jealous as he watched wondering who she dreamt would be her husband. He felt more than a little relieved when he saw the groom really was an older version of himself. The smug part of him felt happier than he was willing to admit knowing that Libby was watching everything that was happening. Still it didn't stop her from whispering over the headset that she knew it all along. His face flushed bright red and it made her laugh spontaneously. The sudden laugh screeched over the mic and he yelped from the pain. But the wedding continued uninterrupted.

All except the little blond girl with pig tails that peaked over the pew she was sitting in. Jimmy didn't notice her as the ceremony continued. Instead he found himself enthrall with watching how Cindy dreamt their wedding would be like.

The wedding ended with the ceremonious kiss between the bride and groom before Jimmy slipped out of the church. He knew if he was to find the real Cindy he would have to go deeper into her mind. He signaled to Libby that he was ready and she pushed the preset sequence of buttons and a wooden door materialized in front of Jimmy right out of the air. He motioned for Goddard to follow and then slipped on in leading the way. As before his little blond follower slipped in after him undetected.

To be continued…..

A/N (no sheen was not on the radio and yes his voice reached Jimmy in Cindy's mind)


	5. Mime Time

**Back in the corridor:**

The doorway Libby had opened led him back to the main corridor. She had no new suggestions for him at the moment so it was up to him how he wished to proceed. He decided to head further down the hall so he could attempt to gauge exactly how many doors there were.

Libby reminded him to mark the doors with his chalk so he wouldn't get lost. He thanked her and fished through his pocket for a moment and pulled out a small packet of chalk. He removed one and marked a small number 1 on the first door and proceeded forward.

He wandered for a while and it seemed like the hallway stretched to eternity. Theoretically it was possible since this place was only limited by Cindy's imagination. Once again he was thankful that it wasn't Sheen's mind.

Libby's voice came over the mic suggesting that he should try a door on the opposite side of the corridor. He chose one and marked it with a small white number 2 before using it. As before his little follower slipped in after him before the doorway closed.

**Door Number 2:**

He found himself in Retroville Park and a mime was performing. He started to head in its direction. The little blond girl with pigtails poked her head out from behind a tree and her eyes went wide when she saw the direction Jimmy was heading. The fear was clear in her face but she dashed toward him.

Jimmy was startled to suddenly see what appeared to him as a five year old Cindy tugging on his arm. But He had never seen her this scared in his life and the realization that he was about to meet one of Cindy's worst nightmares registered in his brain. She was clearly trying to drag him away from the mime. Jimmy stared in its direction and saw that the mime had noticed them and was pretending to tight rope walk as it approached.

She begged him to follow her and to run. He looked into her pleading eyes and the decision was made. He would heed the warning and fall back. He turned to follow but something wrapped around his waist a moment before he was yanked off his feet and right onto his back. The impact knocked the wind out of him and it took a moment to catch his breath. He looked and felt around his waist but nothing was there.

She reached out and demanded for him to grab her hand. He squeezed on to her and tried to maintain the grip as he was pulled violently the other way. He looked in the direction he was being dragged and saw the mime was pretending to be yanking on a rope.

It seemed almost ridiculous. He had seen mime performances before. They would pretend to pull ropes and to be stuck inside boxes no one else could see. But this was a nightmare and it just dawned on him that Cindy had exhibited an irrational fear of mimes when they had met the Great Spandini.

Jimmy's eyes went wide as he stared at the mime's painted face which was done up in the traditional macabre way. The face hadn't seemed out of the ordinary at first but it was the grin that caught Jimmy's eyes. The grin that revealed a mouth full of monstrously sharpened teeth. A long red tongue lashed back and forth spraying spittle on to the ground.

Jimmy turned over on his stomach and tried to grab onto anything he could but the vice like grip of the pretend rope simply pulled him closer to the waiting monster. The five year old version of Cindy still pulled on his right arm with all her might despite the terror in her eyes and her screams. Goddard stood in defensive mode ready to assist its master but it didn't understand what was happening.

His bark got Jimmy's attention and he ordered Goddard to get him and the girl out of there. Goddard obeyed by using two mechanical hands that came out of his chest to put the girl on his back. He then wrapped a tow line around Jimmy's waist and rocketed off away from the mime. Jimmy felt the invisible line get tighter around his waist as they gained altitude and stared in shock and horror at the sight of the mime being towed along with them.

The mime aimed its finger like a gun and pretended to shoot. Goddard yelped as the invisible projectile hit one of his rocket thrusters. They couldn't maintain altitude so Goddard had no choice but to land. The mime let go of the invisible rope and pretended to be releasing a parachute. Sure enough the mime's fall was broken and it slowly drifted to the ground. Goddard set down as gently as possible and Jimmy brushed himself off and stared up at the mime as it drifted down in front of them.

Jimmy stepped in front of the girl and aimed his watch at the mime warning that he would hit it with a laser if it came any closer. Disregarding the warning the mime stepped forward and Jimmy had no choice but to fire. Unfortunately the mime pretended to be behind an invisible wall and the laser deflected harmlessly off.

It closed the distance and Jimmy was hoisted off the ground by his neck. Its big white hands wrapped tighter and Jimmy started to see spots. He watched as the jaws opened wide and the smell of its fowl breath filled his nostrils. He didn't regret that this would be how he would die. His only regret was that he would fail to save Cindy.

One single tear ran down his cheek when he thought of her. His sorrow turned to rage and he kicked and thrashed with all his might but it was no use. He was growing weaker and was near passing out. His only hope was that the girl had got away.

The fowl scent in his nose changed to an acrid burning smell as his laser sword tip came through the creature's chest. It dropped Jimmy and roared as it entered its death throes. Jimmy fell to his knees hard and coughed as he tried to breathe through his sore throat.

He looked up in shock to see the little girl standing over the fallen monster. She deactivated the laser sword and handed it back to him. He stared at the creature as it shimmered and a wave of energy wafted out of it and filled the small girl (in a very highlanderesque fashion). She glowed for a moment and grew slightly in size. When the glow faded she had the familiar smug look he had seen on his Cindy countless times.

Jimmy decided it was time to get out of this area and Libby opened the door which led back to the main corridor. He couldn't imagine what made Cindy had dreams about mimes like that. But he would be completely supportive of her fear in the future. He realized that he would be lucky if he didn't have nightmares about mimes himself after this.

**Back in the hallway:**

He turned to face the little kid version of Cindy and she stepped forward and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back. She explained that she didn't know why but she felt compelled to help him but it was like she knew him somehow. He thanked her for saving his life. She blushed at the compliment for a moment and then stood with her hands on her hips and demanded to know who he was and what he thought he was doing in here. Her sudden behavior was so similar to the Cindy he knew he wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry. The feeling grew even stronger once she learned his name and chose to call him Neutron.

Libby contacted her mother and let her know about Jimmy's little companion, the encounter with the mime, and how the little girl had absorbed the energy once it was defeated. Her mother believed that it was possible that Jimmy had found Cindy's inner child. If the inner child was free it could imply that she isn't simply trapped in her own mind but has been fragmented into various parts of her psyche.

This could change things a bit. She told Libby that she needed time to consult with some of her friends and would contact them as soon as she had some news to share. She suggested that in the meantime Jimmy should keep the kid close and continue exploring as safely as possible since it really could in fact be Cindy or at least a part of her.

Libby was excited in anticipation of what her mother had told her. If the theory was right than Jimmy technically did find the real Cindy. She just needed to be put back together. She told him what she knew and waited for her mother's call.

To be continued….


	6. Prom Date

A/N: Thanks to all of your for sticking with me this far.

**In the Corridor:**

Jimmy was glad he didn't have to try to convince the young version of Cindy to stick with him. She had insisted on coming with him before he had even gotten a chance to ask her. She was so set on coming and made such a big show of giving him reasons he needed her help that he felt it was easier to pretend she had convinced him. She was so much like the older girl he loved with all of his heart and soul. It built up the blazing fire in his heart that drove him on in his journey despite the deadly encounter of the last doorway.

There were many reasons he loved Cindy. She was strong, intelligent, and afraid of almost nothing that he knew of (except mimes of course). He often found himself lost in her lipid green eyes.

He started to tell her that time she betrayed him to Eustace Stryche on Mars. She had only done it because she thought that Jimmy acted like she didn't even exist. Her words were like salt on the wound she had made in his heart from the betrayal. How could she not see through his awful acting to see the hopeless enthralled love sick fool staring out at her? In his anger he simply blurted out that he was only pretending to ignore her because she was pretty smart, smelled nice, and distracted him sometimes. But he panicked when his friends accused him of liking her. He felt so defensive being unsure how she would react. Maybe it was cowardly but it had been safer to deny it.

But that was in the past. He had finally managed to bring up the courage to kiss her and ask her to be his girlfriend. He would not stand idly by and allow Cindy to live out her remaining life in a coma.

Jimmy took a few minutes to repair Goddard and the three of them entered the next door.

**DOOR 3:**

They arrived at Retroville high school. The sun was setting and seemed like a relatively clear sky. He saw the banners lit up on the outside of the gymnasium announcing that it was the night of the senior prom. The three companions snuck inside to get a better view of what was happening and hid under the curtain covered table that held the punch bowl. Little Cindy whispered to Jimmy that she was thirsty and that he should get her some punch. He agreed but only if she stayed hidden under the table. She nodded and he quickly stood up.

He felt a hand grip his shoulder as he was pouring punch and spun around to be face to face with a teenage Cindy. She was even more beautiful in her prom dress then he could have ever imagined. (It says a lot considering he already gets lost in the moment at her beauty.)

She asked him if he was ready to dance. Which of course he stuttered out "what? Dance with you? You mean now?" She pulled him in close and kissed him. Her breath was intoxicating and her lips tasted like strawberry lip gloss. His heart raced out of control and he thought for a moment it would explode.

There was a hiss from the table that he figured was from the little Cindy. Is it possible she was jealous?

The prom had already started and couples were dancing on the floor. He tried to explain he wasn't dressed for such an occasion. Her laugh was enchantingly beautiful as it rang out like music to his ears after all the time he had to endure without it. She pointed out that he looked incredibly handsome in his black suit and black silk tie. She whispered "a hunk muffin." He felt his cheeks flush up in embarrassment.

He looked down at himself and realized she was right. He really was wearing a black suit and tie. He sized himself in the nearby mirror and the face staring back was a teenage version of him. He grinned and turned to dance with his "date."

She placed her right hand in his and they placed their left hands on each others' waists and began to dance with the crowd. He glanced around at the other dancers and saw Nick was with Britney and Sheen was dancing with Libby. Carl had brought Elke, they looked good together as they danced. Jimmy was glad that Cindy dreamt that Carl and Elke would last and still be together during the senior prom. She clearly has a good opinion of those too if it's manifesting in her dreams.

The dance floor had filled up and the music turned to the slower love songs and everyone switched to dancing closer with their arms wrapped around each other's waists. Being this close to Cindy was thrilling. He could smell the jasmine scent from her hair and her body had that bewitching smell she had called Ode to Amino Acid.

The dance ended suddenly and he found he was standing in the empty gymnasium with little Cindy and Goddard staring at him. He glanced in the mirror and saw he had returned to normal right down to his red shirt and blue pants. There was no sign of the party and he assumed that the dream had come to an end. He winced when he saw the worried look in little Cindy's eyes.

She explained how the dream has started to take him along with it as Libby had warned him to not let happen. If she and Goddard hadn't stopped him when they did he would have faded into the ethereal ilk from where the dream figures had spawned from. She held up the silver box with the V on the lid and explained that Libby had called over the headset and instructed her on what to do to snap him out of it. She hugged Jimmy tightly and he noticed she was even taller and older looking then before. Clearly she had defeated the threat and collected another part of herself. To think all he did was dance the night away with the girl he loved the most.

**To be continued….**


	7. Rough Seas

**Back in the hallway:**

After the excursion at the prom Jimmy decided it was time to ask little Cindy some questions:

"How did you get here and where do you come from?"

"I woke up here in the hallway and didn't know who I was or how I got here. It was a little confusing. When I saw you, I couldn't tell you why, but I felt I knew you and wanted to follow you to see what you were doing." Said Cindy

"When you fought the mime how did you feel?" asked Jimmy

"I was afraid but I couldn't stand around and do nothing. It would have eaten you if I had. But once it was dead I felt stronger and I could remember some things."

"What did you remember?" he asked in a soft tone that she found inviting.

"I remembered that you were important to me but no real details. So I decided I had to follow you." She said as a blush crept over both of their cheeks.

He flipped the mic and asked Libby if she was still there. She responded that her mom had said she was glad he hadn't been taken into the dream entirely and that she was now convinced that the girl was the main avatar for Cindy. As he helps her face her fears she is coming back together. Keep going and don't give up. Jimmy told Libby to thank her mom for her and to tell her he owed her one.

He decided to level with the girl and tell her what he believed to be true. Little Cindy took it rather well considering. It's not every day you find out you are the spiritual avatar for a girl laying in a hospital bed. That you ended up here by saving the life of the boy you are traveling with. She wasn't upset at all in fact she beamed with pride to learn of her sacrifice.

**Door 4:**

They found themselves on the deck of a large wooden galleon. The sails billowed in the wind and the sun was rising in the east. The clouds were white and soft over head and the sky had that hint of blue in it as the sun light crept over the horizon. Little Cindy, Goddard, and Jimmy stared out as the sun rose and watched the splendid beauty.

As the sunlight hit them their attire changed to fit the scene. Cindy found herself in a pirate captain outfit that was reminiscent of the one Captain James Hook had worn in the renditions of Peter Pan. Jimmy was dressed like the first mate Smee. Goddard discovered he now was wearing a doo rag, eye patch, little wooden sword and his left hind leg was a wooden stump. Little Cindy laughed and pointed out how cute Goddard looked. Goddard barked happily.

"Well what happens now Cindy?" asked Jimmy

"For starters you can call me Captain Vortex, Neutron." she beamed with pride with her hands on her hips. She looked adorable in the red captain hat with its long white feather. He couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. In the back of his mind he was really starting to enjoy this. He had cherished every moment he had ever spent with Cindy in the real world and this was simply an extension of that.

"Ok Captain Vortex, what are your orders?" replied the grinning Jimmy

She began to speak when the ship suddenly pitched to the side. The sudden movement sent them tumbling to the deck. The little girl shrieked in surprise. Jimmy got to his feet and looked out at the water to see what had hit them. He stared in amazement as dozens of pink tentacles emerged from the water and started hitting the deck.

He shouted to Goddard to go into defensive mode and tossed one of the laser swords to little Cindy. The swords ignited with audible hums and they started slashing at the tentacles that had latched on to the deck. Jimmy severed the first one and they heard an ear shattering roar over the side of deck from the source of the tentacles.

The ship pitched again and began leaning unnaturally over one side as the tentacles pulled at the two masts. Jimmy looked in horror as he saw the monster. It was a giant squid like creature to be sure but in some horrific way its brown eyes looked strangely familiar.

"I just want the boy! Give me the boy and I'll let you live! Give me the boy!" roared the monster.

Jimmy realized he knew that voice. It was Betty Quinlan and she was here for him! He raced toward the closest mast and slashed with all his might. The tentacle severed and the ship groaned as the pressure was released off the mast. Cindy took care of the 2nd mast and ship lurched back upright. Our three brave crew members stumbled about but maintained their footing.

Jimmy noticed there were harpoon guns mounted on both sides of the ship and shouted for little Cindy to use one as he jumped into the seat of the other. He fired his harpoon and it hit the left familiar eye dead center causing it to pop like a water balloon. The creature roared in pain and thrashed back and forth as it tried to dislodge the harpoon but the rope line held fast and it simply towed the boat in an clockwise motion. Cindy managed to hit the second eye with the other harpoon and the creature stopped its thrashing as the life drained out of it.

As before with the mime, the creature vanished in a blast of energy that Little Cindy absorbed. Jimmy turned to look at Little Cindy and saw she was no longer little but looked like the girl he had expected to find.

"So I guess I can't call you short anymore?" he said reminding him of the time she had said that to him after they had defeated the Yolkians.

"Don't worry; I'm sure there are all kinds of other insults you can come up with." Cindy replied with a playful grin.

"You remember?" Jimmy held her hands and looked in her eyes, the amazement was clear in his face.

"Yeah; there are a lot of gaps but I remember a lot of things. I remember my mother and father's names. I remember you and I are more than friends." She replied as she pulled him in close and kissed him the smell of jasmine filled the air. She pulled away leaving the taste of strawberry lip gloss on his lips.

"Well Come on Neutron. Let's go get the rest of me back together. By the way, thanks for coming after me."

He replied "Oh it was nothing. You would have done the same for me."

She stopped walking and turned to face him. "Do you want to know?"

"Want to know what?" he asked slightly confused and still dazed from the kiss.

"If I think you were worth the sacrifice?" she asked with a serious look in her eyes.

He gulped and nodded his head. She grinned ear to ear and replied "I would do it again in a heartbeat."

With that said they walked into the door marked number 5.

To be continued….

A/N: thanks for the reviews. I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.


	8. Shivering Isle

**Door Number 5:**

They found themselves by the shore of the strangest lake Jimmy had ever seen. He knelt down and touched the water, or what should have been water, it was really cold and felt like slush. Goddard ran a chemical scan and the result came back blue raspberry slushie. His stomach rumbled and he realized how hungry he was getting. He placed his hands together and scooped some to his mouth. It tasted even better then the real thing. He called out to Cindy to try it. She knelt down next to him and drank deeply.

She stared into his eyes that were as blue as his lips from the slushy and despite the cold drink running down her throat she felt warm. She leaned in and kissed him. He had to grab on to her to stabilize himself as he swooned from the intimacy.

"Jimmy look at that!" shouted Cindy. She stood up suddenly. His head still felt fuzzy but he turned to see that Cindy was pointing toward the center of the lake. He wasn't sure how he hadn't noticed it at first himself but there was a giant castle with magnificent spirals that stretched toward the clouds.

Jimmy said "I don't think we're in Retroville anymore Cindy."

"Oh really Dorothy, how'd you guess?" she replied.

"Very clever Vortex." He sneered. She grinned and said "You love me."

She looked around the shore line and then it came to her. She knew this place. It was a dream she had when she was a little girl. They would be safe here. She looked and saw the boulder and the bushes a few yards down the shoreline to the right of their location. They were in the same position as she had imagined it. She excitedly told Jimmy they wouldn't need their weapons and for him to follow her as she jogged off.

They walked around the boulder and there concealed by the bushes was a large banana split sundae in a boat. It had been modified for four passengers to sit in safely. One seat was in the front and one in the rear. They hopped in the front together and Goddard got in the back. They each grabbed an oar and started making their way toward the castle.

The lake was beautiful as it was but the sight of the castle was breath taking. The boat set down on the green grass that covered the lawn leading up to the castle. There was a wide gold bricked road running up to the stairs of the castle. Jimmy knelt down and scratched one of the bricks and the gold peeled away like foil revealing chocolate underneath. He glanced at Cindy and she simply shrugged and said "what do you want? I was a kid." She turned her back toward him and headed up the stairs. The railings were made out of licorice and the giant main doors were two giant after dinner mints. (The little rectangle ones with the green wrappers) The door handles were molded out of candy.

He was astonished to see the walls of the castle were made out of Pecan Ripple Ice cream. He turned to her and before he could say anything she said "Yes you were right that day in the Candy Bar. Pecan ripple is my favorite ice cream flavor in the whole world. "Jimmy knew she was referring to the time he was under the influence of love potion 976 and had told her he loved her.

As he thought of how to respond he watched as she grabbed a handful of the ice cream in her hands and squeezed it into a ball. He opened his mouth to protest as he started realizing what she was doing but it was too late. She hit him right in the face with it. She laughed and shouted "SNOW BALL FIGHT!" she ran into the main hall and he gave chase with Goddard scampering after him. "You're going to get it now Vortex!" he half shouted and half laughed.

The snowball fight (pecan ripple) lasted for a while but eventually they became tired and felt disgusting and sticky. They decided to find somewhere more comfortable to rest then the M&M and Reese's Pieces covered floors.

They found a bed chamber but it was filled with children sized girl clothing. The next two chambers had clothing that respectively fit the both of them. So they changed and met back in the living area that had a real fire place and big transparent windows (most likely edible) that allowed them to have a panoramic view of the country side.

Libby contacted him to check on them. He explained that they were someplace safe and would be holding up there for the night. They knew that the piece they needed was the massive cherry in the center tower. But that could wait till morning.

Libby responded "I'm glad to hear your both safe. Oh Jet Fusion sends his regards. He said if you need his help he will be here but he respects your decision for privacy on this personal matter. He said if you change your mind you can contact him online under the handle "Cutie5" he said you would know what site the handle belongs to but for security purposes he could only say as much as he had"

Jimmy and Cindy both thanked her. He passed the mic over to Cindy so she and Libby could speak for a while. Libby was more than grateful to speak to her old best friend again. Eventually the conversation ended and Libby retired for the evening.

Jimmy stood in the rest room to one of the bed chambers and was glad to see it had running water and actual toothbrushes and toothpaste. It made sense considering that if a girl was to imagine her perfect castle she would want to have the normal hygienic products since one cannot live on candy alone.

They lay in each other's arms in a large bed with an ornate wood frame that was covered in blue colored quilt blankets and sheets with pillows as soft as marshmallows. (Because they were)

The young couple fell fast a sleep with Goddard curled up at the bottom of the bed next to their feet. Jimmy stirred only once during the night and glanced around the room which was still lit by the soft glow of candle light. He gazed down at the girl snuggled up next to him and brushed the blond hair over her ear. He kissed her softly on the forehead and whispered "I love you."

She muttered very sleepily "I love you too." And a moment later he was fast asleep.

To be continued…


	9. Siren's Call

A/N: thanks for all of you that are still reading, and thanks for the reviews and story alerts. I appreciate the input so I know that my effort to entertain you has not been done in vain.

**The bed room chamber of the pecan ripple palace:**

Jimmy woke up as the sun rose over the horizon. The panoramic windows gave him an unheeded view as the light filled the sky revealing the surrounding country side. He could see a little village off in the distance that was at the foot hills of a mountain range that seemed to stretch on forever. He could see the smoke coming out of the chimneys and despite the distance he could hear a rooster making its cry. He was more than a little impressed that Cindy had envisioned such a place. She was a remarkable girl.

He glanced down to see if Cindy was awake yet. She was lying in his left arm with her head on his chest. She had taken her elastic band out of her hair for the night forcing him to gently brush it to the side so he could see her face.

He didn't really know when the transition had first occurred, the bond that had formed between him and Cindy. He started to think back to when he first met her. He pictured the little 8 year old girl with pig tails and braces as accurately as if it was a photograph.( a side effect of a photographic mind) She had teased him mercilessly without any real explanation. She never missed out on an opportunity to make fun of him when one of his inventions went wrong.

They formed a competitive rivalry to always try to one up each other. He hated her at first with a passion that seemingly had no end. It became an obsession. He remembered how he had looked forward to class presentations and class projects so he could see the look of disappointment in her face when his project was better than hers. He had loved proving her wrong. Nothing had satisfied him as much as wiping that smug look off her face. But that slowly changed as he realized that she was the highlight of his very world. He was so got up in his thoughts that he finally realized there was a strange sound coming from outside.

Cindy woke up to find that she and Goddard were alone. She got up lazily and greeted Goddard. The mechanical K-9 barked happily in response. She asked "Goddard do you know where Jimmy is?"

Goddard ran a scan and his panel flipped over revealing a message that said "he is down stairs in the main hall. She quickly dressed and dashed down the stairs. She heard the doors opening as she reached the main hall and caught a glimpse of Jimmy as he walked out the door. "I wonder where he's going?" she said to herself. It was then that she heard the music.

Jimmy couldn't stop himself as he continued down toward the water, toward the source of the music. It sounded like singing but no human voice could make such a sweet melody that he knew of. He tried to stop himself but like the children in the old pied piper story he couldn't stop himself. A figure came out of the water to greet him. She was beautiful as was her singing. She was familiar somehow but he couldn't think straight under the spell of her enchanting song.

The figure had long brown hair and brown eyes and the most inviting smile. She kept singing as she gestured for him to come to her. He approached slowly. He knew somehow in the core of his being that something was wrong but he couldn't stop himself. His mind screamed for his legs to stop but his body kept going. The being shimmered slightly as she opened her arms to embrace him and his mind registered that this scantily dressed water nymph looked like Betty Quinlan and in Cindy's mind that was not a good thing.

She hugged him as she kept up the beautiful singing that had enticed her prey to her trap in a similar way that a spider builds a web next to a street lamp to catch the prey that are drawn to the light.

He felt her kiss his neck gently. Her breath tickled and it made a shiver run down his back. His mind screamed in terror but there was nothing he could do. She placed her open mouth on his neck and bit down gently. He could feel a mouth full of tiny pin pricks slice into his flesh. She slurped as she drained his life fluid out of him. His heart pounded in his chest as the adrenaline raced through him. But his strength was fading out of him. He became light headed and she supported his weight in her deceptively powerful arms. Before he blacked out he thought one last time of his Cindy and then he drifted off into unconsciousness.

To be continued…

A/N sorry to leave it there but I have to head to work. I'll update tonight when I get home.


	10. Misconceptions

**Unconscious: **

Jimmy's eyes fluttered. The light hurt his sensitive eyes. He could hear the beeping of machinery and people speaking in the distance but he couldn't make out what was being said. His head felt fuzzy and he found he was having trouble focusing. He finally managed to open his eyes and saw that he was in a hospital bed. There were "get well soon" cards on the nightstand. He could see the Retroville elementary school in the distance.

He felt really confused. He tried to remember how he got where he was or what he was doing beforehand but nothing came to mind. But He knew there was something important he had been doing and needed urgently to get back to. He tried to get up but he felt dizzy and had to lay back down.

He had an IV tube stuck in his arm and glanced up to see that it was attached to a transparent container full of liquid but the label was too small for him to make out what was in it. But he assumed it was either a liquid drip to keep him hydrated or some kind of sedative. The way his head was swooning it was most likely the latter.

A woman entered that Jimmy identified as a doctor by the white lab coat. His vision went in and out of focus at first so it took a second for him to recognize that it was the same doctor that had taken care of granny Neutron when she had to have her tongue defurred, Doctor Sullivan. He wondered how he had gotten to Retroville Hospital.

"Good morning Jimmy and how are you doing today?"

"I'm fine, I think. How did I get here Doctor Sullivan?" he asked politely

"Well I know you're a genius so I won't speak down to you. You suffered a serious head injury. It was touch & go for awhile but the good news is you pulled through and you're awake. I'm sure your head feels fussy but that's a side effect of the morphine we've been giving you through the IV in your arm. Believe me when I say it but your head would hurt more than you want to deal with if it weren't for the IV. You had quite an accident. I would say that you're lucky to be alive. An angel must be watching over you young man."

The word accident was the keyword that triggered a flush of memories. The water nymph that looked like Betty, the killer mime, the castle made out of icecream in the center of the lake of blue raspberry slushie. It all flooded back to him. He didn't know how he got away from the nymph. Maybe Libby used the emergency ejection controls. But she didn't know about that. How would she have known? It didn't matter he had to get back in there and help Cindy.

He began to sit up insisting that he had to get back to his lab and the dream injector 5000. The doctor stopped him insisting he should stay in bed.

"But you don't understand. I have important work to do!" he pleaded.

"Your work can wait until later. You won't be helping yourself if you don't get some rest and give your head time to heal.

You've been through a pretty traumatic experience and I know there are a lot of people that will be glad to hear your awake; especially that sweet girl that's been visiting you every day. I never got a chance to meet her myself but the staff says she stays the entire visiting hours. She must really care about you to do that. They say she is a blond girl, Not sure if that narrows it down for you or not."

Jimmy thought about it for a moment and concluded that Cindy must have completed the quest after the Nymph had attacked him. He couldn't wait to speak to her. He asked if he could have access to a phone. Doctor Sullivan told him his parents were already notified about the change in his condition and were on their way in but she saw no reason she couldn't arrange to have one of the staff cordless phones brought in for him. She left to handle the matters of the phone and to continue her rounds of the hospital.

A few minutes went by and a nurse brought him a cordless phone. He dialed her number (555-1246) without even having to look at the buttons. It picked up on the 1st ring. Cindy answered Vortex residents, Cindy Vortex speaking. Who may I ask is calling?" Her voice sounded like music to his ears.

Grinning from ear to ear he spoke into the phone "Cindy?"

"Jimmy is that you!" she half shouted into the phone. "You're awake? I was so worried about you."

"I'm alright. I'm glad you're awake yourself. How did you save me from the water nymph? "

"Water Nymph? What are you talking about?"

"I figured you must have seen it. I'll explain later. But how long have you been awake from your coma?"

She hesitated before responding and then said "Jimmy, the doctors warned me that this might happen when you woke up. They said you would most likely have crazy dreams. It's only because of how extensively you had hit your head and the morphine they used to sedate you."

The truth of her words stunned him for a moment. It took him a moment to realize she was trying to get his attention. He apologized and explained that it was hard for him to face that everything he believed was true was nothing more than a drug induced hallucination. She let him know that she was on the way to see him and they could talk when she arrived. Before she hung up she said "Jimmy?"

"Yes, Cindy?" he asked weakly.

"I love you." The phone went dead before he could reply.

He protested to himself that it wasn't a dream but the plausibility of what she had said sounded logical enough. The good news he assured himself was that Cindy was safe and coming to see him. She would most likely be able to explain to him how he had hit his head.

His thoughts were interrupted by a nurse. "Hello Mr. Neutron or is it alright if I call you Jimmy?" he replied that he preferred Jimmy. "Well Jimmy, it seems you have a young lady here to see you. That is if you're feeling well enough for visitors. She put her hand to her mouth and whispered "She's a really pretty girl" as she pointed her finger toward the hallway.

His heart leaped in his throat. Cindy must have already arrived! Enthusiastically he told the nurse to let her in. His anticipation of seeing the girl he loved was over whelming and it took all the control he had left to not throw himself out of the bed and to rush to the door. She must have borrowed the hover car again. (He remembered when she had used the hover car to come out to Shangri lama and defeated Yoo-yee. She had leapt off a roof and performed a perfect triple axel mid air Betsy flip kicking Yoo-yee out cold before smiling at him and telling him the hover car needed gas. He loved that girl.

He was disappointed to see it wasn't Cindy yet. And due to his recent morphine induced dreams slightly horrified to see it was Betty Quinlan. She was holding a bouquet of flowers and grinned when she saw him.

Betty had been his first crush and he would have loved to have her visit him in the past but the dreams were so realistic that he was having trouble feeling comfortable around her. Not to mention Cindy was on her way and would be really angry if not downright jealous to find Betty here. He broke into a full body sweat and his stomach churned with nervousness as he glanced at the clock and wondered if he could somehow politely get Betty to leave before she arrived.

Betty spoke to him about how school was going. She explained that everyone missed him and how Cindy had taken his injury harder than anyone else in the school. As Betty spoke Jimmy glanced at the clock again and noticed the hands hadn't moved. "Batteries must be dead" he thought to himself. As Betty continued to speak something caught Jimmy's attention. He stared at her as she spoke and waited to see if he would see what he suspected he had again. There it was again! She shimmered like her image flickered in and out of existence for a moment.

He backed as far into the bed putting his back against the wall as fast as he could. The sudden movement made the room pitch awkwardly and he almost passed out from the pain in his head. She laughed in that whimsical musical voice he had heard down by the blue raspberry lake. Her teeth slowly stretched and changed shapes into the tiny sharpened teeth that had felt like pin pricks in the skin of his neck. His neck! He reached up and found a bandage in the same spot she had bitten him.

It had been real. It must have been. He tried to speak bravely. "Cindy will be here any moment." He knew that Betty feared Cindy. Everyone in the entire school had always feared her. He remembered how she floored Butch with one punch when he teased her about her and Jimmy's relationship. To think he was supposed to be the bully. It was the first and last time anyone dared tease her about it again.

"Cindy isn't coming Jimmy. That was an illusion. A side effect of my venom actually. I had to give your mind something to focus on while I feed. But since you can't escape anyhow I'll tell you where you really are. You're in a cavern under the lake. I like to give my prey a few days to recover between feedings to help extend their usefulness. As you can imagine you can't produce blood for me if you're dead. But Oh well." Her voice came out as a hiss "Time to feed" She reached for him but stopped mid movement. She looked around confused.

The hospital room dematerialized and changed into a cave as she had stated but based on her reaction this clearly wasn't being done by her. A soft glow cut through the darkness and filled the cave with an ever increasing intensity. The nymph screeched and fled deeper into the cave away from the approaching light.

He put his hands up to shield his eyes as he tried to make out the source. His face lit up with excitement when he saw it was Cindy and Goddard and she was holding the pearl out stretched in her hand and it was the source of the light. Libby's mom's words came back to him of the importance of the item that Cindy had held most dear since. This was the second time Cindy had used the pearl to break the illusion of the dream world.

He stared at Cindy with her flowing blond hair and the concerned look in her fierce green eyes as she hurried toward him and realized that the illusion of Doctor Sullivan had said something that was proving to be true. He really did have an angel watching over him.

To be continued….


	11. labyrinth

Cindy hugged Jimmy tightly and asked if he was alright and replied "I'm ok now thanks to you."

She grinned in that prideful way he had grown to love. But her smile faded and she said "I have to go after it. It must be destroyed. I can help you get back to the castle first if you want."

"You're not going after that thing alone." He stood up and puffed out his chest but the movement made him feel dizzy and he had to lean on Goddard for support. "Right." She said mockingly. "You can't even walk straight and you expect to be help to me how?"

He thought about it for a moment and slid on to Goddard. He leaned forward and patted Goddard gently on the cheek while saying "You'll carry me won't you boy?" Goddard barked once in response indicating that he would. Cindy sighed turned and stared right into his eyes and said "Fine let's get going. But if there's a fight you better stay out of my way." The authority in her voice was clear and he reluctantly promised to follow her order.

The cavern proved to be a subterranean labyrinth of tunnels that stretched into the varying directions. The place was a constant 50 degrees Fahrenheit and the walls were damp from the dripping of water. Stalactites and stalagmites of varying heights and shapes filled the tunnels keeping our trio on their toes as they ducked and maneuvered around the varying obstacles in their path. Cindy kept leading at a brisk pace and Jimmy was starting to wonder exactly how she was navigating so efficiently. But before he got a chance to ask she spoke. "I guess by now you're wondering how I found you and how I know which way to head in this place."

"The thought has crossed my mind." He replied.

"Well when I saw you head outside I figured I would get ready for what I believed was a carnival due to the beautiful melody I heard. It works different on you than it does to me as you probably realized. I figure I should explain that first. I'm not a fan of Betty as you most likely guessed by now." Her voice became unsteady and he motioned for Goddard to stop and grabbed Cindy's hand and she turned to face him. He could see something was building behind her eyes as she spoke and he motioned for her to continue with her story.

"I hate her Jimmy. I really do. I absolutely and entirely hate her guts."

"May I ask why?" he tried to sound as supportive as he could, considering in the real world Betty had always been really nice to him.

"Because you had a crush on her and I'm afraid that she will one day realize how special you really are and steal your affection away from Me." she looked down at the ground and squirmed uncomfortably as she waited to hear what his response would be.

He slipped off of Goddard and swayed for a moment waiting for his head to clear. Cindy stepped forward and helped support him. He used it as an opportunity to pull her in and kiss her. A single tear went down her cheek. He had never seen her cry and knew this was a rare moment in deed. He wiped the tear away gently and spoke softly as he could. He told her what she fully meant to him. How Betty could never ever compete with her. He didn't deny that he had liked Betty and he stressed the past tense and the use of the word "like" and then he emphasized that he loved her and her alone. Cindy hugged him tightly and they stood embracing for a few moments until Goddard barked to get their attention. His screen had a new message reminding them of where they were and what they were supposed to be doing. So they continued on their way and Cindy continued to explain how she had found him.

"When I saw you went outside I assumed you would be safe. The ice-cream palace was a place I had imagined when I was so young I didn't think anything harmful would be here. So my curiosity got the better of me and I went up to the tower and found the cherry. When its energy filled me I felt distant from my body for a moment and I could see everything around me as if I was a large discorporate head. Through that point of view I saw the creature drag you into the lake. When the vision ended I ran as fast as I could but it was too late. You were already under. I contacted Libby and explained the vision and she asked her mom about it. The guess is that as I am gaining more and more parts of me back together I am starting to gain more awareness or in some way a control over my dreams. It's limited of course and I currently just "know" which way to go. If I'm right we are almost to an underground river. The "water is actually purple flurp. The river begins at a lake up in the mountains and flows downstream and over a cliff forming a massive purple "water" fall. Anyhow the nymph will be at the river waiting for us."

He stared in amazement but figured in dreams anything is possible.

They found the river as Cindy had described and the creature was waiting for them. Cindy pulled out the two laser swords and prepared for the showdown. The Nymph still resembled Betty but its skin turned scaly and then the lower part of its body changed into a massive snake tail. Cindy anticipated the next change and tossed a blind fold to Jimmy and ordered Goddard to take Jimmy back into the tunnel. Jimmy began to protest but Goddard obeyed.

Cindy blind folded herself as the hair on what resembled Betty's head shimmered and shifted into writhing snakes. She could hear the hissing close by. She anticipated this moment from daydreams based on her love of the old movie "Clash of the Titans" She imagined how she would have handled Medusa and now was her chance.

Venom dripped from the newly formed Gorgon's mouth and head full of snakes. Her eyes were serpent like, not that anyone would have lived to see it. The Betty-Medusa taunted Cindy about not being able to find her. Cindy responded with pride "I don't need eyes to find you. I can smell you at a hundred paces" The thought made her chuckle as she remember Bridgette Nielsen saying that in Red Sonja. In her own right Cindy was like Sonja though she supposed she would be Yellow Sonja.

The creature roared in anger at her chuckling opponent and dashed in to attack. But Cindy crouched low and timed the approaching enemy and sprung vertically into the air. Betty passed under her and crashed into the nearby wall. Cindy flipped into a perfect summersault and landed silently. Betty writhed in pain and shrieked in frustration. She may not have had use of her green eyes but her ears were keen and the snakes hissing was all Cindy needed to find her. She slashed with both swords and removed the head of the writing serpent. She waited until the familiar energy filled her before removing her blind fold and calling out to Jimmy that it was safe. The creature was dead.

To be continued….


	12. team work?

Jimmy felt the effects of the venom fade away as the creature vanished in a flash of energy. He sighed with relief, removed his blindfold, and climbed off of Goddard. Cindy had already deactivated the laser swords and hooked one to her belt for safe keeping. She tossed the other one back to Jimmy.

She smiled at him and said "Told you I could handle it Neutron." But his response was left unsaid as the ground began to shake and the cave walls started crumbling. Jimmy shouted "Run" in a panicky voice and they headed back through the tunnels as stalactites crashed down all around them.

Goddard ran alongside them keeping pace. They made their way as fast as they could despite the stalagmites that covered random portions of the cavern floors. Jimmy shouted into his headset frantically for Libby to open up an exit to the main corridor. He felt a flood of relief as the open doorway materialized directly in their path. They were running so fast that they had trouble stopping so suddenly and rammed into the far side of the hallway as the door automatically slammed shut behind them and vanished.

Jimmy and Cindy leaned against the corridor walls panting for air.

"Jimmy?" she gasped "What happened?"

"I don't know Cindy. It's like the whole area disintegrated. Look its even affecting the hallway."

She turned to see what he meant and saw that all but one door still remained.

They eventually caught their breaths' and entered the doorway and found themselves in Retroville Park again. They were both uneasy after the mime incident. Cindy wrapped her hands around Jimmy's left elbow and walked as close behind him as she could. It was almost funny. How brave she was when confronted with her death countless times yet something as insignificant as a mime caused her to have nightmares. But after dealing with her nightmare he would certainly have nightmares of his own.

They started making their way through the area on a constant look out for mimes. They didn't see a mime but something glinted in the distance so they headed toward it. They found a large statue of Jimmy in the center of the park. He was dressed in a bionic suit and had his hands on his hips. The plaque said "This statue has been commissioned in honor of James "Jimmy" Neutron's contributions to mankind. The message went on to say that Jimmy had fallen in battle defending the Earth from total destruction but would be missed by the entire world.

Jimmy stared at the plaque and read it over five times before turning to look at Cindy. She kept her eyes low but could tell that she was being looked at. Jimmy watched as the blush that had started at her cheeks spread until her entire face was red.

"This…..this is how you see me?" he asked. The shock was clear in his voice. You picture me getting killed in battle saving the world?"

"Yes. You're a good guy Jimmy. You've saved not only Retroville but the Earth countless times and are always willing to put your life on the line for the rest of us."

He felt really overwhelmed and said "I'm really touched. I don't know what to say."

She looked up with bashful eyes and said "Just say you love me." He responded by kissing her deeply. It was a sweet moment but it was sadly interrupted when the ground ruptured and the massive form of the Jimmy hulk creature climbed out. The creature was as Cindy remembered it. She was relieved it wasn't another Betty monster.

Jimmy looked horrified at the monster that freakishly resembled him. Cindy stepped in front of Jimmy and pushed him backward. "Don't hurt it Jimmy. I know how to calm it down." Jimmy stared wide eyes and nodded despite Cindy having her back to him. She had handled him when he was the hulk creature and never knew what she had done.

She walked slowly forward with her hands out stretched and spoke calmly" The Jimmy Hulk leaned forward so he was eye to eye with Cindy and grinned. She grinned in response and turned her head to say "See Neutron everything is ok. He doesn't want to hurt us." She heard and low growl and turned to look back at the Jimmy Hulk. Its face had become menacing. He stared right into her eyes before roaring in her face. The force of the roar made a powerful wind. It blew her hair back and made her shut her eyes. The creature than reared up to full height and back handed her sending her bodily head over heels into the bushes forty yards away. She didn't even have a chance to scream.

Jimmy screamed "No" and aimed his watch and fired. The laser singed the creature's forehead and it reeled back from the pain but the wound healed leaving just blackened carbon residue. The creature rose up its right fist and clubbed downward. Jimmy dashed forward between its legs barely avoiding the fist as it thumped the ground. The ground shook and Jimmy fell to the ground. The laser sword had come off his belt and was lying on the ground in front of him. He snatched it and rolled onto his back. His eyes went wide with horror as he saw the massive foot coming down on him. He rolled to the side and avoided the foot but stopped short as he collided into the other foot that was planted firmly on the ground. Realizing he was between the creature's legs he activated the laser sword and swung with all his might, slashing through the vulnerable area between its legs. The Creature roared with extreme agony and clutched the wound and fell to the side. Jimmy got up quickly knowing that even now the creature was healing and this had only bought him sometime.

**Cindy in the bushes:**

Cindy was dazed but surprisingly unhurt. She opened her eyes and found she was kneeling on all fours. She stood up and checked herself all over. Her outfit had changed to fit the circumstances. She was wearing her Special-girl outfit. She stood in the basking glow of the sun and felt its energy flowing through every cell in her body as it did when she was an N-men. She heard the roar and crash as the creature hit the ground. A quick scan with her supervision revealed that the creature was healing and getting to his feet as Jimmy was heading her way. She noticed that its molecular density was increasing as it was healing. It would be tougher than before. This would be a challenge. It made her grin.

She leapt thirty feet into the air and landed a few feet in front of Jimmy with her hands on her hips.

"Cindy! You're ok!" he shouted with relief.

"Yeah, the place changed us again to handle the new threat." She said. Jimmy noticed that she wasn't the only one that had changed. Only he wasn't wearing his N-men costume. Instead he was wearing biotech armor like the statue. "Nice armor Neutron"

"I would say thanks but you're the one who imagined it. So any idea how it works?"

"I imagined that you would have designed the suit to use neural sensors so basically you think of what you need to have happen and the suit reacts. Try thinking of defense at the moment. That creature will crush your head in if you don't protect it. If that suit really is based on the one I imagined you'll be able to do just about anything you could have made in real life plus maybe some added stuff" She replied.

He thought for a second and the molecules of the suit realigned and he now appeared like a man made out of solid steel with his traditional preferred colors of red, yellow, and blue. The servos were muffled so they only gave off the slightest noise as he moved. The muscle enhancements activated and he found he could move easily in the heavy armor. He glanced at the N-men symbol on Cindy's costume and one appeared on his chest armor. He figured he would need to fly and the bottoms of his boots produced rocket thrusters. They activated and he lifted a few feet off the ground.

They stood by side ready to fight the Jimmy-hulk as it regained its footing. They looked at each other, nodded, and then attacked. They launched themselves at the creature fast intending to hit it at the same time. But the creature clapped as they approached. The resulting shockwave pitched them backwards and right through the left leg of the statue of Jimmy. The damaged statue swayed before pitching forward on top of the creature.

The statue was fifty feet tall and weighed four tons but the creature caught it and leaping into the air drove it straight down on top of the duo driving it deep into the ground. The ground began to shake violently as Jimmy and Cindy erupted right out of the ground parallel on each side of the creature catching a respective leg each as they launched themselves vertically into the sky carrying it along with them. It roared in its rage and twisted itself around causing the duo to slam into each other. They lost their hold on the creature and it began to fall back to the earth.

As it fell it split into two; forming a black winged serpent that could only be compared to a dragon like creature. The Jimmy-hulk landed on its feet but the dragon caught itself by beating the air with its massive leathery wings. It let out a shriek like roar and raced off into the air preparing for the fight.

"I can handle the hulk creature, Jimmy." She raced off after it without waiting for a response. Jimmy started to shout that they should stick together but the dragon nailed him from the back full speed. He could feel the force of the impact and could hear the sound of the talons scraping along his back but the armor thankfully held. He twisted but the dragon held its grip on him with its four limbs. The suit released an electric charge, shocking the creature, and making it release Jimmy. He flipped around and aimed with his right arm and fired a barrage of lasers at it. But the dragon twisted and turned easily dodging the projectiles. It swooped upward and hovered in front of Jimmy, arched its magnificent S-shaped neck and spit fire that engulfed Jimmy entirely.

**Cindy:**

Her target was distracted watching Jimmy and the dragon battling it out in the sky so Cindy rocketed toward the rear of the Jimmy-hulk using the element of surprise. But it swung its massive fist around and hit her right in the side of the head sending her crashing back to the ground and performing a perfect face plant. She didn't rest for even a second as she flew right off the ground into the creature's face delivering a series of powerful punches that sounded like gun shots which rocked the creature back ward. She flipped backwards 360 degrees catching the creature under the jaw with her foot sending it launching hundreds of feet away.

To be continued….


	13. Clash of the titans

She flew along the ground until she found where the creature had landed. It leapt on her and wrapped its massive hand around her head before she could react. She felt like the energy was being drained out of her. The monster had adapted and was feeding on her life force! She started feeling woozy and struggled to get lose from the vice like grip but the more she struggled the weaker she felt. She raised her feet to her chest and kicked with all her remaining strength. The impact stunned the creature long enough for her to get lose and she fell to the ground with a thud. She felt the wind rush out of her from the impact and she struggled to breathe despite her spasming diaphragm. The creature came at her again with its hands out stretched desperate to get a grip on her to continue its feeding. But her energy was returning quickly and she back flipped out of its reach, landing in a fighting position. She realized it was stupid to try to brawl with this thing. She would have to rely more on her martial arts training and her super speed. Her old sensei's words came back to her. "Best kind of defense is when an attack comes you not be there."- Mr. Miyagi.

**Neutron:**

The suit began heating up from the intensity of the dragon fire. An alarm sounded and the viewing screen within Jimmy's helmet showed the word "Alert" flash in big red colored font every five seconds. His left gloved fist reshaped into a canon and it began shooting a high pressure stream of water. The dragon gagged and choked as the water hit it right in the mouth. It shrieked in rage and swooped away from the stream leaving a line of smoke as it went. Jimmy rocketed after it and grabbed onto its back. The sudden impact caused the creature to pitch for a moment downward and it had to beat its wings harder to maintain altitude.

The dragon roared in frustration from the unwelcome passenger and rolled over in the air. But Jimmy held fast. The aerial feats continued as the dragon flew into the clouds before diving straight down toward the ground and spiraled over and over. Jimmy struggled to maintain his grip as he shimmied up the neck and toward the head that was just beyond his reach. The suit generated the mind control device as he desired and with one quick movement he attached it to the base of the neck. It beeped and little flashing lights ticked in sequence indicating that it had been activated. The dragon's red eyes glazed over blue. It stopped struggling and slowed until it was hovering a few hundred feet in the sky.

Jimmy took a seat on its back between its wings and latched himself down securely with two grappling hooks that he fastened to some of the bony protrusions on its back. "Cool" he said excitedly. He had a dragon. He attached another two lines on each side of the dragon's head like reins on a horse. He pulled on the reins and the dragon took off toward the battle between Cindy and the Jimmy-hulk.

**Cindy:**

The Jimmy-hulk swung downward with both fists together. Cindy waited until they almost touched her before she zipped to the right with a whoosh. The hulk simply saw a grey and reddish blur as she zipped around him. She would appear and he would swing with his fists and she would zip out of the way. He was clearly getting frustrated. She decided to work in some punches of her own. She started an alternating pattern of a punch to his stomach and kick to his head for every three attacks she avoided. But he was so strong that even hitting him was hurting her fists. She knew she couldn't keep this up for much longer.

She caught a glimpse of Jimmy riding the dragon her way. The distraction proved an opportunity for the Jimmy-hulk. He caught her and held her by her neck and repeatedly delivered earth shattering blows directly to her face. She felt dazed from the blows and saw a white flash every time she was hit. Blood trickled down her forehead and from her nose.

Jimmy aimed the dragon right at the hulk's back and it pounced with talon and teeth. The collision sent the hulk crashing to the ground. Cindy fell harmlessly to the side and was getting back to her feet. Jimmy landed the dragon near her and stuck his hand out to her prepared to pull her up and on to the back of the dragon. But she looked angry and shouted "I had it all under control until you butted in."

Jimmy looked hurt and his eyes went wide in surprise. "I was trying to save your life Vortex!"

"I'm sorry. Thanks for helping me but please don't interfere again. I have to do this on my own." She grazed her finger tips against his and looked up into his eyes. "I love you." She said before streaking at full speed into the chest of the Hulk twenty yards away. She released a fury of punches and kicks unlike anything Jimmy had ever seen. He had to cover his ears from the sounds of the blows and the dragon arched its head and roared and shook its wings in agitation.

Her knuckles split and her blood splattered and smeared on the creature. She noticed she left a bloody hand print on its shoulder when she had used it for leverage to hit him harder with her foot. Both titans were looking worse for wear. The Jimmy-hulk was dripping green blood from deep wounds but he continued trying to kill his opponent anyway.

Cindy could see the soulless rage in the creature's eyes. This creature wasn't really alive she reminded herself. She decided to end it the only way she could think to do it. She hovered at eye level with the creature and concentrated on using her supervision. She felt it charge up. It glowed red hot as it erupted from her eyes and right through the creature's forehead sending skull fragments and brain matter out the back and all over the ground. The Jimmy-hulk swayed back and forth for a few moments and collapsed face down.

She lowered herself to the ground and examined her opponent. It was dead. As before the creature glowed and emitted its energy which absorbed into Cindy. She felt energized but something happened she did not expect. She started to become transparent. "Jimmy! What's happening to me?" she said in a panic.

Jimmy dropped down off the dragon and rushed to her. He tried to grab her but his hands passed right through her. "I think you did it Cindy. I think you're waking up. She could no longer hear him but she could see a figure coming up behind Jimmy. Cindy pointed at it and shouted a warning. Jimmy couldn't hear her of course but he turned and saw the figure. The last thing Cindy saw was Betty Quinlan's face.

To be continued….


	14. Dreams do come true

**Cindy's hospital room:**

Cindy's eyes fluttered. Her heart beat raced. She could feel it pounding in her chest. She struggled to clear her mind. She felt like she was under water. She could hear the whirring sound of machinery near her and a rhythmic beat that she later realized was a heart monitor. Her breathing calmed and she could hear a familiar voice speaking to her. It took her what seemed like an eternity to realize she knew the voice. It was Jimmy. He kept asking her to wake up.

She managed to open her eyes. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw his two sapphire eyes staring back into hers. Her head felt dizzy and she struggled to sit up. He placed a hand on her shoulder and effortlessly forced her to remain lying down. The movement felt exhausting.

"Ji…jim…..jimmy?" she spluttered out. Her throat felt dry and her vocal cords hurt. She struggled to speak ignoring the pain. She felt his hand squeeze her's gently. It felt warm and she liked the feel of his skin against her's.

She laid back down and smiled as she stared into his eyes. "H…ooo…ww…diiiiiid ….I …get…here?" she asked.

"Just relax Cindy. You've been a sleep for a while. I was hoping you would remember everything that happened. But the important thing is you're awake." He grinned despite the tears that welled up in his eyes.

"Neutron? Are you crying?" she asked. She weakly used her left index finger to wipe a stray tear from his cheek.

She glanced down at his attire and finally noticed the soot covered and scratched armor he was wearing. Her head ached as memories came flooding back in flashes. She squeezed her eyes shut and rode out the experience. She had heard people say that their life's had flashed by them but she never really believed it. At least until now.

She gasped as the full scope of everything that had happened. She tried to sit up and excitedly asked "Jimmy, how did you escape from Betty?"

"woah! Calm down Cindy. You remember?" His grin spread across his face.

"Yes, as I faded I saw that Betty creature coming up behind you."

"I thought that was why you were pointing at me." I turned around as soon as I saw your warning but there was nothing behind me. "he replied.

She heard a loud snort and turned toward the hospital window. She saw the head of the dragon peering in. Its eyes were still glowing bright blue as she remembered from the dream. Despite her weakened condition she bolted straight up. "Woah! You took it out of the dream world?"

His smile got larger and he said "Yeah, I can't explain why but in the same way I could go in and be hurt in the dream world things can come out as well. I discovered that when I tried to help Carl with his giant lima bean monster nightmare. The thing came out of the dream and attacked us right in the lab."

They heard a tap at the door and turned simultaneously to see Libby's smiling face. "Hi, guys." She maintained her composure for a few seconds more before she bolted right into Cindy's arms. The happiness at seeing her best friend awake clearly was overwhelming her.

Cindy thanked both of them for caring about her enough to help her out. She had trouble conveying how lucky she felt to have such loyal and loving friends. She was glad that she had the chance to tell them how she felt before her parents arrived. Since as soon as the hospital administration discovered she had woken up they had contacted her parents.

She knew everyone would want to thank Jimmy and Libby personally when they got the chance. So she was relishing the time they got to speak alone before the crowd loomed around and starting playing twenty questions with her. The dragon outside wouldn't help to control the town's curiosity that's for sure.

Carl and Sheen were the first to arrive followed by her mother and father. It was the start of the intense questioning that she dealt with over the next month as she regained her strength. It seemed like everyone in town wanted to speak to her personally to ask about her experiences with Jimmy in the dream world. Some of the town's people romanticized the idea that Jimmy spent so much time in the confines of her mind. She blushed from some of the mushier remarks she heard were circling.

Jimmy met her the day she was released from the hospital. Keeping to hospital policy they wheeled her to the exit in a wheelchair. Jimmy reached a hand out to her and pulled her to her feet. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and kissed him deeply. The staff member muttered "I wish I had a girlfriend" and rolled the wheelchair away.

He led her out to the awaiting dragon which was crouched low with a wing spread out with its tip touching the ground. It formed a ramp for them to walk up and onto its back. She took her seat in the saddle he had created during the month. She thought it was romantic that he made a two seated saddle. He sat in front of her and took the reins. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and snuggled up behind him. He pulled on the reins and the dragon lifted off the ground with a beat of its wings.

She felt the wind rush through her hair as they soared over Retroville. They circled over the town as they rode up higher on the warm air currents. "Where do you want to go Cindy?"

"Well we have a week until summer school starts. Can this thing make it to the island?"

"This _thing _is a boy and I named him Archimedes after the Greek philosopher, Cindy"

"Oh ok than. Well can Archimedes make it to the island?"

He chose to let actions speak louder than words as he smiled and pulled the reins at a slight angle. The dragon immediately responded by arching its back a moment before stretching out its long black scaled body causing it to dart forward. It accelerated faster and faster with each beat of its powerful leathery wings. Cindy and Jimmy both shouted with excitement as the ground raced underneath them.

She loved Jimmy. That was undoubtedly true. He really did have a knack for adventure. He was the only person she had ever met that could make her wildest dreams come true.

To be continued….


	15. Chapter 15

The trip to the island was more thrilling than usual. The dragon flew close to the black ocean water, as school of dolphins followed close behind. Cindy figured they were curious, having never seen a dragon before. The dragon ascended higher into the sky, giving them a great view of a family of humpback whales that were gliding along below. The whales called out to each other in their eerie, yet beautiful way. It was beautiful.

Jimmy called out, having to shout to be heard over the wind "Look at that Cindy!" He pointed at a small whale that was hanging close by a much larger whale, presumably its mother. Cindy looked and said excitedly "Ooh! It's a baby!" She hugged Jimmy tightly and kissed his cheek. His cheeks flushed red for a few moments, Cindy giggled in response.

Cindy always loved spotting the island when it would come into view. She held her breath for a few moments as she scanned the horizon. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw it. She loved the island, it was her favorite place in the whole world, having been the place that united her and Jimmy. If it wasn't for being stranded together they may have never gotten close. Something in her heart told her that wasn't true though. They were already getting close; the island sort of just helped it along, regardless it was a very special place for her. The dragon circled above the island, Cindy held tightly onto Jimmy as the dragon tipped slightly to the side as it banked with the turn, before landing gently on the beach near their tree-houses.

Jimmy helped Cindy up from her saddle. He offered to hold her hand as he waited on the angled wing, but Cindy declined the offer. Instead she did an aerial summersault off the dragon's back and landed on her feet. She kicked off her shoes enjoyed the feel of the sand as she crunched it with her toes. Jimmy grinned with pride, as he carefully made his way down off the dragon. His girlfriend never ceased to amaze him.

They planned to go swimming but Jimmy had to check on an experiment first and Cindy wanted to get in a quick workout, so they entered the lab he built on the island. The lab was identical to the one he had back in Retroville, but he had moved some of the more dangerous experiments here. Jimmy stopped and peered in at two tiny robots and greeted them. Cindy recognized them easy enough; it was N-1 and N-2. They had good intentions but misunderstood their orders with catastrophic results. Jimmy hadn't been able to work out the bugs in their system yet. They had already escaped once and it was just safer if they were far from Retroville.

N-1 spoke up "Oh greetings great and magnificent creator. How may we serve you?" N-2 looked around to see Cindy and immediately blurted out "The creator has become a female?" N-1 retorted by slapping him in the back of the head and shouting "Fool! That's the creator's girlfriend."

Jimmy stifled a chuckle and said "I'll check on you two later" before walking over to his computer. While he ran some chemical scans on the suit he had removed from the dream, Cindy worked out.

She activated the fighter simulator Jimmy had created for her. It used light waves to form solid holograms. It had a leveling system so the hologram would fight better and hit harder as Cindy gained more experience. He had known how much she loved martial arts and wanted to help fine tune her skills. He wasn't happy that she chose for the simulated sparring partner to look like Betty Quinlan, but it was best she work out her frustration on the sparring partner than the real girl. Betty was a nice girl and he would hate to see Cindy get her hands on her.

Cindy and Betty circled each other and Betty struck first. Her fist would have connected with Cindy's chin if she hadn't leaned backwards. Cindy stood up straight and put her arms up for defense. Betty swung her left arm in a chopping motion. Cindy blocked and countered with a strike to the simulated Betty's chest. It staggered back for a moment but recovered quicker than Cindy anticipated. It kicked Cindy square in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She dropped to her knees gasping for air. The security protocol triggered and the hologram deactivated.

Jimmy rushed to her side "Cindy are you ok?" It took all her effort to not snap at him, her anger was overwhelming, and she knew he was simply concerned for her. She got to her feet still gasping for air, holding her sore stomach and pushed Jimmy back. "I'm fine, I'll be alright. It caught me off guard. That's all."

"Well if you're sure?" he replied. She nodded and went to reactivate the machine. Jimmy returned to his seat. Her pride was injured. She couldn't believe she showed such weakness in front of Jimmy. She knew she could do better. When his back was turned Cindy cranked the level of the machine all the way up to lethal force. She gritted her teeth and crouched into a defensive stance and watched her opponent.

Jimmy turned to watch the match. It continued for several minutes. He was impressed how good Cindy could fight. She dodged and weaved as Betty aggressively struck at her. The strikes seemed so dangerous but he kept himself calm knowing that the safety protocol wouldn't allow for Cindy to be really harmed. (if they were on)

Betty kicked low and swept Cindy's legs out from under her, causing her to land flat on her back. Betty raised her leg as high as she could and stomped down on Cindy's stomach. Even though Cindy braced her abdomen the kick still hurt. Betty gave her no time to recover, as she swung her fist at Cindy's face. The punch missed as Cindy moved her head out of the way just in time. She quickly got back to her feet by executing a perfect kip-up. She landed in a defensive position and had only a moment to get her bearing as Betty attacked again with a series of punches and kicks that Cindy expertly dodge, weaved, and blocked.

Cindy tried to go on the offensive but Betty caught her outstretched arm, which left Cindy's body open. She struck fast and hard, right into Cindy's already sore and unprotected stomach. Cindy threw up as she struggled to catch her breath. Betty showed no mercy as she grabbed her shoulders and knee/jumped her in the face. The force of the impact sent Cindy landing flat on her back again. She rolled to the side and wrapped her legs around Betty's, a twist and Betty was on the ground as well. Cindy rushed to get up and launched herself into a jump kick that connected with Betty's face. The force sent Betty crashing back.

Cindy leapt at her but Betty rolled out of the way and before Cindy could turn she was kicked in the back of the head, sending her crashing face down on to the floor. She started to get up but Betty stomped on her back flatting her out, without missing a beat Betty straddled her and grabbed Cindy's hair violently as she began thumping her head on the floor.

Jimmy had turned to watch the match between monitoring his experiment and his eyes went wide in shock as he saw Betty slamming Cindy's head against the floor. He had seen enough and without missing a beat raced over and deactivated the machine. The hologram vanished. Jimmy's felt a tinge of fear and anger when he saw the setting of the match.

Cindy was breathing heavy as she got up and faced him. Her left eye was swollen and she was bleeding out of a gash over her eyebrow. She swayed a bit and spit a wad of red colored phlegm onto the sparring mat. Jimmy grabbed her by her arms. His hands shook as he stared at her. Cindy cringed as she watched his reaction to her cuts and welts. Her heart raced and she felt a mixture of shame and worry as she waited for the scolding she knew was coming.

"How could you do this Cindy?" his voice was shaky, concerned, and accusing. She stared at a spot on the floor and didn't look up. "I'm sorry. I was angry when it hit me on the easier setting and admittedly a little embarrassed that it happened in front of you. I wanted to prove to myself that I could handle it on any setting."

"That thing could have killed you. Do you even realize that?" he asked, his words barely a whisper. He hugged her tightly not giving her a chance to answer.

She whispered "I'm sorry. I promise I won't ever do that again." He let her go and looked her over, on top of her cut and bruised face, her knuckles were split and her nose was bleeding. He told her to wait a moment so he could get the antiseptic and some bandages. She sat and waited patiently.

He stopped and said "I have a better idea. I can demonstrate how the nanobots worked to repair you when you were first injured." He came back with a syringe. He wrapped a rubber band around her arm and tapped a vein until it stuck out. Once the nanobots were in her system it took a minute or so for them to find the wounds. She watched in fascination as the skin on her knuckles regrew and the pain of her sore body vanished. She glanced in the mirror and looked at herself with her two wide open and healthy looking green eyes and grinned.

To be continued…..


	16. Chapter 16

After the workout and her accelerated recovery, Cindy decided it was time for that swim. She rinsed off the blood that was drying on her skin and changed into her bathing suit. Jimmy was already down by the water waiting for her. He greeted her with a grin. He was wearing his red swim shorts with the blue stripe.

She touched the water with her feet. It was cool and felt good in the hot sun. She loved the water here; it wasn't freezing cold like the North Atlantic was. She learned that the hard way when she went swimming at Hampton Beach on one of her dates with Jimmy. She had been spoiled from the warm water here, so she ran right in before realizing her mistake. Jimmy laughed as she ran back out of the water screaming. Her teeth were chattering, her arms had Goosebumps, and her lips were slightly blue. She held him tightly because his dry skin felt so warm, though he yelped from the touch of her cold skin. He wouldn't admit it, but Cindy suspected he hadn't warned her how cold the water would be on purpose. She would always test the water first from that point onward.

Their little monkey friend had come out to play with them. They had decided to name him Dexter. He touched the water with his foot and protested for a moment. He darted inland as a wave crashed and the water flowed after him. He made a game of it by moving towards the water as the tide went out and darting back in as the wave would come. Jimmy and Cindy laughed at his antics.

After watching him for a few minutes, Cindy called for Dexter to come to her. He stopped playing his game and dog paddled over to her. She scooped him up and he squeaked with delight as she let him climb onto her back.

Archimedes (the dragon) was lying on the beach and watching the three companions playing. He casually scratched at the little mechanical device at his head. After several tugs he managed to dislodge it. He held it up and looked at it. The glow in his eyes dissipated revealing two large blue eyes. His mind cleared and he felt confused for a few moments as he examined his surroundings. He heard the laughing and turned to watch the children playing with the monkey. He yawned and stretched and drifted off to sleep.

Jimmy and Cindy swam until their hands were pruned. After they dried off, Dexter was tired and hungry so he wandered off to find food and rest. It was still early in the day so Jimmy asked Cindy if she wanted to take a walk along the beach with him. She agreed and held hands with him as they started to walk. They walked in silence for awhile, both thinking of how much they loved each other and how much they loved holding hands.

After lunch, Jimmy decided he would collect fruit for a special dinner he planned to make that evening. Cindy offered to tag along and help, but Jimmy insisted it would spoil the surprise. She was left to her thoughts as he went off to start his preparations. She decided it was time to do some collecting of her own.

She quickly made her way back to the ocean and swam to the area where Jimmy had found the oyster that contained the pearl. She dove underwater and found the colony of oysters as he described. There were hundreds of them! She grabbed as many as she could hold in her arms and kicked toward the surface. It was exhausting, but if she found a pearl, it would be worth it.

She didn't know it, but she was being watched. Archimedes had followed her but was staying out of sight. He observed in fascination at her efforts. He watched her swim out and hold her breath before diving under. She would be gone for about half a minute, then she would emerge and struggle to shore with the oysters in her hands. He continued to watch as she pried them open with a knife, one at a time. She seemed to be getting more agitated with each oyster she opened. Archimedes wasn't the only thing that had taken an interest in Cindy's activities, however.

A shark cruised along searching for the electrical impulses being generated from Cindy's splashing. Its grey mottled back made it virtually undetectable from the surface. It was a Great White Shark, a man-eater. It weighed two tons and measured over fifteen feet in length. He was hungry and searching for prey.

It passed by ten yards from shore while Cindy was prying open her newest batch of oysters. She didn't see the dorsal fin as it passed because her back was turned. It dove deeper and started making its way back out to sea, having lost the signal.

Cindy stood up and sighed angrily. She had already opened one hundred and thirty-six oysters and not a single one had a pearl. One more and she would be at the lucky number. She made her way back and took a deep breath before diving under. She wandered the bottom looking at the various oysters. She didn't want to just grab one randomly. This one had to count. She would absolutely love it if her 137th oyster had a pearl like it had for Jimmy's. She stayed under as long as she could, the burning in her lungs forcing her to surface. She treaded water as she caught her breath. She dove under again. The shark turned and made its way silently back in her direction. It worked its jaws in agitation.

She found an oyster she felt good about and kicked off the bottom aiding her ascent, but was caught in the act. Jimmy was on shore. He waved to her and called out, "What are you doing?"

"None of your business Neutron!" she couldn't stop herself from grinning despite her response.

His smile faded as his eyes went wide. He pointed out at the water and shouted "SHARK!" She froze for a few seconds and glanced over her shoulder. She could see the dorsal fin in the distance. It was heading towards her. She turned and started to swim as fast as she could. Jimmy shouted, "Swim Cindy! Swim! Don't look back!" He shouted into his radio watch for Goddard but Goddard was back at the tree houses and would never make it in time.

Cindy hadn't realized how far she had gone from shore finding her last pearl. She kicked as hard as she could and held onto the oyster with all her might as she swam. The tide was against her and the struggle was wearing her out. She knew it was hopeless. Jimmy continued shouting for Goddard despite the fact that the shark was almost on her. Jimmy saw the dorsal fin go under the water moments before the massive head appeared and the jaws filled with rows of serrated triangular teeth opened up with anticipation.

The shark could smell its prey before it could see it. Its prey didn't smell like the shark's preferred meal of seals and sea lions, but it was hungry and didn't care at this point what it ate. It swung its powerful tail back and forth driving it forward against the current of the water. It was now close enough to see its victim and it opened its jaws to prepare for its meal.

To be continued…..


	17. Jaws:

A/N: I know this chapter is a tad rough as far as the way it flows. I've been busy with my final projects for school. I hate to delay posting any longer. I hope you enjoy it despite the tiny issues.

* * *

Cindy turned to face the oncoming shark; all hope seemed to be lost. Her heart raced in her chest and her face paled in fear, she didn't feel it but she was biting her lip so hard that blood trickled down her chin. Some primordial part of her mind was working over time and time seemed to slow down. She waited until it was almost on her and dove straight to the bottom, fifteen feet below. Her movement was so sudden that it surprised the beast and it passed over her, its jaws snapping shut in the very spot she had just vacated.

Her vision was blurry in the sea water but she could make out the silhouette of the shark as it circled about. She hung low to the bottom and hid in the wreckage of a fishing vessel that was covered in barnacles among the rocks and sea grass. She entered through a hole in the side that was large enough for her but wouldn't accommodate the shark. The shark passed by close behind, its shadow darkening the side of the ship as it passed.

Her lungs were burning for air but she knew if she left her spot the shark would find her. Her mind raced in panic. She felt light headed as she desperately needed air. She would have to make her way to the surface immediately or she would drown. She had never held her breath this long before.

Jimmy's mind raced as he tried to think of a way to save Cindy. His mind raced and he chanted to himself in what could have perceived as a mantra "think, think, think…" his eyes went wide as he shouted "brain blast!"

Jimmy fished through his pocket and popped some gum into his mouth as he dove into the water. He stuck to the bottom and made his way as quickly as he could to Cindy. She was barely conscience when he reached her. He grabbed her and her fear filled eyes focused on him. Relief rushed through him to see she was alright. He pulled her tight and kissed her. She felt the gum slip into her mouth and realized it was Jimmy's air gum. She chewed frantically to satisfy her body's desperate need for oxygen. She hugged him tightly and they huddled together as they watched the shark circle above.

Her chewing made the place she had bit her lip bleed. The shark could pick up Cindy's blood in the water and it grew agitated as it swam over their hiding place. It was so close that Jimmy could see the remora fish hanging on its underbelly. The shark turned suddenly and slammed into the ship's opening. The opening was too small for it to reach them but it kept up trying. They could hear the thrashing in the water and hear the jaws slamming shut but they couldn't see since it blocked out the only source of light with its body. The boards creaked, and began to splinter. Suddenly and without warning it stopped its attack, and swam off into the distance, and out of sight in the murky water.

Cindy and Jimmy poked their heads out and looked around. The normally clear water was filled with debris from the shark's thrashing and it made it hard to see very far, the shark could still be nearby. The air gum was nearing the end of its usefulness so it was now or never. Jimmy led the way and Cindy swam close behind. They made their way back to the surface.

When they reached the surface Jimmy was delighted to see Goddard had arrived and had remote piloted the hovercar to their location. They knelt in the center of the hovercar holding each other. Neither one said anything, they simply wheezed for air. The peace was short lived as the hovercar lurched heavily to one side, Jimmy and Cindy toppled over and held on to anything they could grab as the hovercar rode out the force and drifted calmly again.

"What was that Jimmy?"- Cindy

"I don't know Cindy; I think it might have been just a wave, out this far from shore….."-Jimmy

Jimmy's words drifted off as he saw the massive dark object coming toward them underneath the water's surface. He raced to start the hover car. The engine sputtered to life and began to lift them into the air. Cindy turned to see what was causing Jimmy to panic and stared wide eyed as a massive head erupted from the water. It was another shark and it caught the side of the hover car with its jaws.

Jimmy identified it as a great white easy enough but this one was massive. He had read online that you could tell the length of a shark in the water by looking from the dorsal fin to the tail. This shark had to be thirty feet long. "I think we now know why the other shark took off!"-Jimmy shouted. The hover car strained and dipped from the shark's weight. The engines gave out, and they were dragged right back down to the water's surface, the water erupted in a spray from the impact. The shark maintained its hold as it thrashed its head, twisted, and turned, ripping apart the side of the hovercar, causing them to fall into the water.

The shark turned faster than what seemed possible for something so big. Goddard had a moment to yelp in fear as he was swallowed whole.

"NO!"- Jimmy shouted

The shark circled about and headed toward its easy meal. Jimmy treaded water and tried to get an idea where the shark was. His mind raced and he realized that since Goddard was inside it that he could track its whereabouts with his watch. He scanned with his watch and discovered two things. The first was that Goddard was still functioning, and could hear him through the watch. The second thing was the shark was heading their way. The dorsal fin broke the water several yards out.

Jimmy's grinned when a disgusting, yet really clever idea crossed his mind. Cindy asked "How can you smile at a time like this?"

"You'll see, on second thought don't look," with that said he shouted "PLAY DEAD GODDARD!"

Cindy had closed her eyes as Jimmy had warned her as the shark exploded sending blood and fish guts everywhere. She felt the hot spray hit her face. She opened her eyes and stifled a scream when she realized what her face was covered in. Jimmy realized the situation was a bit morbid but couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. She gave him a dirty look and it sobered him up.

Their heads broke the surface and they swam for shore without a word exchanged between them. They didn't see it behind them but the dorsal fin of the first shark broke the water and started following them.

Jimmy stopped to glance back at Cindy to check on her progress. The tide was against them and it was hard to keep swimming toward shore. He spotted the grey mottled fin only several yards behind them. Cindy saw the look in Jimmy's eyes and sighed heavily. "well it was a good try Neutron. Thanks for coming after me again." He nodded and held her close so he could kiss her one last time before they faced the jaws of oblivion. The shark's mouth opened wide preparing to feast. They closed their eyes and turned away so they wouldn't see what was coming. But the bite didn't happen. The charging shark was nailed from above by Archimedes. The black dragon slammed down onto the shark and tore with teeth and claws. Its wings beat to hold its massive reptilian body in the air despite the weight of the shark. The shark thrashed and snapped its jaws as it twisted in the water as it attempted to break the hold of its attacker.

The twisting shark pulled Archimedes under the water, its wings slapping against the water in protest. He dug his claws in deeper and folded his wings up to protect them from the force of the water current as he was dragged under. The dragon had the advantage as it dragged the shark to the surface where it could use its main form of defense. A blast of fire engulfed the body of the shark and it was reduced to a smoldering ash despite the being submerged in water.

Jimmy and Cindy stared at the water's surface that was calm and unbroken. Cindy scanned the water for signs of the dragon. It exploded right out of the water and flew straight into the air with a triumphant roar. It performed an aerial loopdie loop and emitted a fiery display before it flew in low and snatched our two water logged heroes out of the ocean, with his hind legs.

The glanced at each other and surprise was written over their exhausted face.

"Uhm, Jimmy? Did you program Archimedes to save us?" Cindy asked nervously.

"No, I'm afraid not Cindy. He did this on his own. Also I feel I am required to inform you that I couldn't help noticing that the neural inhibitor has been disconnected," Jimmy responded nervously as his mind considered the possibility that they just might be a soon to be hot lunch.

The dragon dropped them gently in a grassy meadow near the cliffs before it landed. The dragon sat on his haunches and stared at the children with his massive blue eyes. Jimmy and Cindy huddled together unaware if they should try to run. The dragon leaned forward, its massive s shaped neck stretching out, bringing its head within inches of them. Its breath was hot as it flowed in and out of its monstrously large nostrils.

"Jimmy, I don't know what to say," Cindy began to say before she was cut off.

"You could try saying thank you. Are you always this rude to those who throw themselves in harm's way for you?" Archimedes responded. His voice was surprisingly charming with a hint of a Scottish accent. He laughed at the surprised looks in their eyes and pulled his head back.

"What's the matter? Did you really think I was going to eat you?" Archimedes chuckled.

"Uh, well not really, well to be honest, maybe?" Jimmy said.

To be continued...


	18. Heart to Heart

A/N: Thank you for believing and for your words of encouragement. I won't let you down again:

Jimmy and Archimedes were back at the tree house preparing dinner and it gave Cindy a chance to walk and clear her head. She walked without any real destination in mind and eventually took a seat on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. She cast a guilty glance in the direction of the tree house even though it was masked by thehundreds of other trees that grew nearby_. _

_They could have been killed and it would have been her fault._ She looked longingly toward the sea. She sighed deeply. Her mind raced over the events of the day.

Archimedes said "Penny for your thoughts?"

She felt her heart skip a beat. She hadn't noticed the dragon had approached. Her face looked solemn as she gazed up into the dragon's eyes. "I thought you were helping Jimmy with dinner."

"I was Cindy. But you've been gone a long time and this island can be dangerous. We both thought it would be best if I came to check on you."

"Thanks. I guess." She replied.

The dragon sat down beside her and gazed out at the sea.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" he asked her

"Yes. Yes it is." She replied. The sad tone of her responses was noticeable to the dragon's keen senses.

"Cindy, why are you sad?" the dragon said softly. He carefully raised her chin with one of his massive talons. His gaze was soft and reassuring, not at all terrifying for a creature so large.

"I could have gotten us both killed today." She almost burst into tears.

"That was no more your fault than it was the animals that attacked you. There was no way for you to know that would happen. Sharks are ancient creatures. Older than almost any other creatures alive on this place you call Earth. They have survived for millions of years of evolution without change, without passion, and without logic."

Cindy stretched her arms out and pressed her cheek to his scaled chest. She could hear the massive heart beating within as she had imagined it would. "Thank you Archimedes. How did you ever get so smart?"

"You are my creator Cindy. I'm as you imagined me to be. Plus I spent a few hours surfing what Jimmy called the internet." He chuckled at his own response.

Cindy backed away and turned to face the ocean once more. She stared at the place she had been searching for oysters. She had dropped the 137th oyster. The one she was certain must contain a pearl. It was fate. She could search for days and never find that specific one again and it wouldn't be the same now. Her heart sunk as she debated with herself over the matter. She knew she was only lying to herself. She was really just afraid to go back out in the water. The close call with the sharks was nerve breaking and she finally noticed her hands were still shaking.

"We should head back to the tree houses. Jimmy will be done with preparing dinner by now." Cindy said. She turned and starting following the trail that led away from the cliff.

"You are most likely correct Cindy. I can catch the scent on the wind. It smells awfully good. Oh one last thing. I noticed you were trying to hold onto this tightly during the shark attack. Is it important to you or was that a simple reaction in your fear?" he opened his massive taloned hand and Cindy's eyes went wide in surprise. It was the oyster she had tried to hold onto. She could tell it was the same one from the black marking on the shell that resembled a star. It had opened in the commotion and she caught a glimpse of white sparkling in the sun. She took it and pried it the rest of the way open and her heart leapt into her throat. Sure enough it was a pearl virtually identical to the one Jimmy had given her. She was speechless and stared in awe.

To be continued….


	19. Dinner with a twist

A/N: Anyone else envision Archimedes sounding like Sean Connery like in DragonHeart?

The dinner Jimmy and Archimedes had prepared was exquisite. There was a wide variety of foods to choose from. A few examples are boiled lobsters and crabs. There were sliced fruits and vegetables to enjoy. Some of which were native to the island and others were from the garden Cindy and Jimmy had planted a few months earlier. The fish had been cooked slowly over an open fire, which added that unique taste associated with any smoked food.

A special meal had been prepared for Archimedes consisting of a roasted pig and a portion of the shark that had been blown apart earlier that day. Cindy shivered when she looked at it. The near death experience still upsetting her.

"Are you cold Cindy?" Jimmy asked thoughtfully as he wrapped his arms gently around her. She sighed taking in the warmth offered from his embrace. "Why don't we stand closer to the fire?"

She nodded and they stepped closer to the fire. The warmth felt good on her. It was a stark contrast to the chilly wind that was blowing in from the sea as the sun was setting.

She glanced down at her arms and saw the goose bumps were still present. For a moment she debated within herself on how to respond. She was always the tough one, the defiant one. But she knew she could let her guard down around Jimmy these days.

"I'm sorry Jimmy. It's hard for me to see that shark after what happened today. I'm not sure if I'll ever truly look at sharks the same way again." She said quickly before she lost her nerve. She hadn't meant to sound angry but she could hear it in her own voice before she realized it.

"Oh Cindy! I'm sorry. I didn't think….Look. I hope I don't seem insensitive. I know that was a close call today and it's understandable that you would be scared."

"SCARED! Is that what you think?" She stepped forcibly out of his arms and gave him a defensive look which made his eyes grow wide as he sputtered out. "Not that you would be scared. I'm not saying you were scared. That would be silly. Why would you be scared?" She glared at him and his heart raced alongside his mind as he tried to think of what to say. She stood with arms crossed with that expression he had grown used to when she was waiting for something. (one eye slightly more open than the other with one eye brow raised)

Ugh this isn't coming out right." He continued on exasperated. "You always seem so fearless. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I didn't think anything could truly scare you besides mimes." Her face softened and she hugged him around the neck tightly and held him tightly. "I'm sorry for getting defensive. Old habits die hard don't they? Of course I get scared Jimmy and yes I was afraid." He noticed she called him Jimmy and his face flushed with gratitude that she was in a good mood again. "You're not mad at me?" he asked sheepishly.

She gazed into his eyes that glinted in the light of the fire and gave him a silent response that spoke louder than any words she could have spoken. She simply kissed him.

The kiss grew deeper until Archimedes cleared his throat reminding them they were not alone.

"Would you two just get a lab?" Archimedes said to the two red faced lovers that were a bit over whelmed in their embarrassment of the situation.

Cindy was the first to respond. "Sorry Archimedes. I kind of got caught up in the moment."

"We both did to be honest" Jimmy chimed in right after her.

Archimedes thought for a moment and said "It's a shame I don't have a female dragon to hang out with."

"I think that can be arranged actually."

Jimmy knew he had the floor; metaphorically speaking that is as all heads turned to face him. "Well if we use the Dream Injector 5000 we can bring pretty much anything out of the dream world that is imagined by the dreamer."

"Would you do this for me Jimmy?" Archimedes asked

"I would love to. I figure I owe you one for earlier today that's for sure. I will need Cindy's help though."

Cindy spoke up "Of course I would help create a mate for Archimedes. What can I do?"

"Well what I'm about to admit is going to be definitive proof that our relationship has completely changed. I will give admission to something that I never would have admitted in a million years!" his voice grew higher to emphasize the epic nature of what he wanted to say. Cindy grew impatient and blurted out harshly "Spit it out Neutron!" Jimmy stepped back and put his arms up as if to protect himself from her if she attacked and said "Ok ok." He found his composure and continued to say "I need Cindy's help because…she is better at artistic stuff than I am. She has a better imagination and considering you came from her mind than it is logical to assume that a suitable mate would come from her mind as well."

Cindy thought about it for a moment and then said "I'm up for it but I will need some time to come up with the perfect mate for Archimedes."

"Take all the time you require Cindy. I am sure she will be worth the wait. Perhaps you need some inspiration." Archimedes said as he gestured to the place he knew Cindy had hid the pearl and winked at her.

"Archimedes is right. I need some inspiration, the romantic type. Jimmy would you mind getting up early with me to watch the sunrise? I think it will help a lot."

To be continued…


	20. A Pearl at Sunrise

Archimedes followed Cindy's instructions to the letter as he set the scene for the morning sun rise. He had the tiki torches lit a few minutes before Jimmy and Cindy would emerge from their tree houses. He waited long enough to get a glimpse of the couple taking their respective seats on the very same log that they sat on when the original pearl had been exchanged before he took to the air. He figured they needed their privacy. His anticipation of meeting his soon to be mate filled him with excitement as certainly as the couple's hearts were filled with affection for one another.

"According to my calculations the sun will break the horizon in exactly ten minutes. So we should get a spectacular view from here." Jimmy said.

"It's a little colder than I expected it to be this morning."Cindy said sweetly. They met each other's gaze for a moment before they both looked away blushing ear to ear, though the light of the torches wasn't bright enough for them to notice.

Jimmy cleared his throat before responding nervously "Scientifically speaking it would be warmer for us if we were to sit closer together." He stopped and studied her reaction.

"Your right Jimmy; it would be warmer." She said as she slid next to him so their shoulders were touching.

She faked a shiver. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. She sighed deeply as she rested her head against his. She noticed his gaze was staring at her empty hand; his expression one of nervousness and hesitation. His face lit up as she took his hand in her's.

They night grew quiet as dawn approached. The light began to creep into the sky with a soft orange glow. The air blew in a gust from the sea and howled through the trees as if singing to formally announce the start to the new day.

The world seemed to stand still right at the moment before the sun broke the horizon. It seemed to stretch timelessly into infinity. For a moment it seemed that the sun would never rise; both Jimmy and Cindy held their breath with anticipation.

The trees erupted with bird calls as the sun crept into the sky. It was magnificent to watch how the light raced into the sky turning it from shades of purples and blacks to ones of blues and whites. The shadows raced to the edges of the world; as if they were retreating from the light; the light of all lights. "Jimmy, I have a present for you" she said with a nervous tone that almost betrayed the excitement within.

"You….you do?" he replied.

She pulled away from his grasp only momentarily to reach behind the log they were sitting on. She turned back to face him holding something in her hand.

"I didn't get you anything, Cindy." He said.

"You've done enough for me already Jimmy. Here take this." She dropped the oyster into his open hands. He stared down at it with curiosity. It was similar to the one had given her only about a year ago. His eyes scanned over the lined surface and the star like discoloration. "Did you find"- she cut him off by placing a finger over his lips "Shhh, just open it. Will you?"

He opened the shell to reveal the perfect little pearl inside. He had been reading enough literature in the last year to understand how sweet a gesture this really was. "Thank you Cindy. I understand the meaning behind this I think. I gave you a pearl when the sun was setting and you're giving me one when the sun is rising. Sort of like a his and her's. Am I right?"

She grinned as she said "You got it."

"So this is what you were searching for when the sharks attacked. I think it makes it mean even more, considering what has happened. I don't know what to say." He replied.

"I don't know, just say you love me." She said nervously.

His eyes nervously raced back and forth for a moment from her face to the surroundings before they focused deeply into hers. Time seemed stretch awkwardly in the silence until Jimmy spoke. "I love you Cindy Vortex. You and no other."

Cindy felt her heart erupt inside her chest as she drove herself deeply into Jimmy's arms. He brushed the hair over her ear and said "God your beautiful" he didn't get a chance to say anything else as she pressed her mouth against his and kissed him passionately.

To be continued….


	21. Dreams of Gold

Later that evening:

The day had been perfect; a day of fun, romance, and adventure. The day ended with the love birds watching the sunset before they retired to the room they had been sharing since they had rebuilt the treehouse after the incident with the giant spider.

"Cindy, I want to thank you again for everything you've done for me. It….it really means a lot to me." He spoke nervously.

"Jimmy."; She sounded so sleepy and it made her seem so fragile despite how strong he knew she was; "Jimmy, your more than welcome. I had a really great time today. I'm sure I'll be ready to create a new mate for Archimedes tomorrow morning if your machine is ready." she yawned, snuggled closer to him, and kissed him on the cheek as she finished speaking. "You're the best Jimmy." His cheek felt hot from her lips and his head felt woozy from the endorphin rush he always felt each time they kissed. He had to wait a moment for the feeling to pass before he could think straight. It made him feel foolish; he was a man of science after all; yet he was reduced to a blathering idiot over this girl. He had given up fighting his feelings for her months earlier; at least she felt the same way about him.

The night air was chilly and the heat of her body next to his felt exhilarating. He kissed her forehead and savored the scent that came off of her skin before he replied. "The dream injector 3000 is primed and ready to go as soon as you're ready." He waited for a response before concluding that she had fallen to sleep. He whispered "I love you Cindy." Kissed her one last time on her forehead, used the arm that was around her to pull her closer, and drifted off to sleep.

Archimedes peered in through the window of the treehouse. It was dark in the room save for the light of a small candle that stood on the bamboo night stand next to the bed. The dragon could make out Cindy's features in the low light; she seemed so peaceful and serene. The dragon wondered what new dreams passed through her creative mind. He longed for a mate and knew that she would make good on her promise to create one in her imagination that Jimmy could bring to life.

He took one last glance at the sleeping couple as they lay in each other's arms and felt the longing for someone that he could cuddle with, in like fashion. He paused a moment to carefully blowout the candle that had burned till the wax had dripped and bubbled until it was almost no more. He inhaled gently savoring the acrid smell of the smoke that came off of the newly extinguished candle, and imagined that it was his mate's breath.

In the lab the next day:

Cindy lay quietly on the lab table as Jimmy attached the green hose that would connect her to the dream injector 3000. It had that familiar smell of plastic that dissipated once the gas began to flow through it. Her head felt fuzzy as she breathed deeply as Jimmy instructed. In a moment she would be out cold and she strained to see Jimmy one last time despite how blurred her vision was getting. She could make out the shape of his whippy doo hairstyle before she was out.

Jimmy monitored her on the control monitor. Her eye lids fluttered gently as her eyes moved rapidly back and forth indicating she had entered the REM phase of her sleep cycle. This was what he was waiting for. He activated a few switches that sent gentle electrical pulses into the sensors that he carefully placed on her forehead. It helped to keep her focused within the dream so and brought her into a lucid state. He spoke into the microphone and his voice crossed the ethereal elk that separated the dream world from the real world.

"Cindy can you hear me?" he asked It took a moment before he got a response.

"Yes, Yes I can hear you but you sound far away. Where am I?" she inquired.

"Your dreaming; don't you remember?" his voice had a hint of scientific curiosity to it.

"Yes I remember now. I feel like my head is underwater. It's hard to focus but I feel like its clearing now. What am I supposed to be doing again?" she asked

"Creating a mate for Archimedes; whatever you imagine will become material within the confines of your mind. Try making something simple and then work up" He said calmly.

She imagined standing in a grassy meadow. The sun shone down through the fluffy cloud filled sky. She gazed around herself and could see deer feeding on the edges of the meadow. She held her breath for a moment as she caught sight of a doe peering at her from between its mother's legs as they slowly crossed the open field. She gazed down at herself and it all seemed so real right down to her hands; the little lines and creases and her finger nails painted in puppy pink nail polish.

She imagined holding a delicious red apple; seeing that they were her favorite; and bit into it. The taste was exquisite and satisfying. The juice ran down her chin forcing her to wipe it off with the back of her left wrist.

"It's working Jimmy. I think I'm ready to try." She said confidently.

"Ok Cindy. Just take your time and work slowly." he replied.

She closed her eyes and imagined the golden dragon she had been thinking of the last week or so. She felt the air move and could hear the rustle of leathery wings. The air filled with a sulfurous smell as smoke billowed out of the newly created dragon.

A soft feminine yet powerful voice spoke "Hello Cindy."

Cindy opened her eyes and was greeted by two massive eyes, which sparkled like emeralds, staring back at her. Her voice caught in her throat for a moment as she took in the full magnificence of her creation. It was one thing to imagine a creature of such breathtaking beauty; it was another to see it firsthand.

"Cat got your tongue?" The dragon asked jokingly.

"Huh um oh no, of course not." Cindy spurted out before finding her composure. "It's just that your more breath taking they I thought was possible.

"Thank you. I think you're quite beautiful yourself." Cindy blushed upon hearing this but Val continued speaking unphazed. "Now allow me to introduce myself." Said the golden dragon as it reared up onto its hind legs and bowed gracefully. "I am Valerie Lee. But I suppose you already knew that. Anyhow feel free to call me Val."

Cindy hesitated a moment, still caught up in the moment. "Ok Val. So what happens now?" she asked.

Val responded "That is up to you."

Cindy spoke to Jimmy "Well Neutron, what do we do now?"

"Hold on one second Cindy. I'm going to open a doorway for Val to enter our world. Don't use the door yourself though. I'm going to have to wake you up the normal way."

"Ok Jimmy ready when you are." She replied.

A glowing gateway appeared right out of thin air. It was massive doorway large enough to allow a full sized dragon to pass through. Val glanced back at Cindy and said "See you on the flip side Cindy." Nodded once and headed through the gate. Moments later Cindy felt strange but she knew this was to be expected, it was simply part of the waking process. She started to disappear and the dream world around her started to become fuzzy. She tried to focus on something in her surroundings to help with the sick feeling she was experiencing. She stared at the gate Val had gone through and watched as it slowly shrank. She didn't know why but it stopped closing and seemed to remain open. She would ask Jimmy about it when she woke. She figured it might be important.

To be continued…..


	22. Interactions

Archimedes sat patiently on one of the stone cliffs that over looked the island. He was able to see the entrance to the underground lab easy enough with his enhanced vision. His mind raced with curiosity over what was happening with in. _how long will this whole thing take? What if I don't like the female dragon that they make for me? What if she doesn't like me? _ He turned and looked himself over searching for any missing scales or parasites they may have hitched a ride. He even tested his breath by blowing onto his clawed right hand. _Hmmm smells like fire and brimstone. _

His heart felt jumpy and his stomach was queasy with butterflies, when the rocket bay doors slid apart. His eyes grew larger as he watched in wonder as a gold colored object shot vertically into the sky. _She's absolutely gorgeous! Oh lord! She's coming this way! _ She swooped in low before banking off to the side. He watched as she circled about; eyes glued to the sight of her sleek feminine dragon form. He stood upright as tall as he could muster, pushed out his chest, and tried to act confident as she gracefully landed in front of him. _Even the way she folds up her wings is strangely attractive…..I'm in trouble. _

She walked toward him and he was caught up by the sparkling color of her green eyes.

"Hello there" she said bashfully.

"Hell….Hell…ooo yourself." Came a nervous reply. He stared wide eyed as she came closer, her body moved silently and gracefully despite her size.

Later that Day:

Archimedes and Val had hit it off pretty quickly and it was obviously love at first sight. Jimmy and Cindy lay back in each other's arms on their beach blanket and watched the aerial fiery display from the dragons as they courted.

"I got to hand to you Cindy. You did a fantastic job creating Valerie Lee." Jimmy said.

"You really think so Jimmy?" Cindy replied clearly flattered.

"Definitely. You really are very artistic." He said proudly.

"Thanks Jimmy! "She said gleefully.

"You're welcome. You know it's kind of sad that we have to go back home tomorrow. I really enjoyed spending this time with you. But then again I always love spending time with you" He said.

She sighed quietly. "This week flew by. Back to school and piano lessons again. You know my recital is coming up?"

"Are you inviting me to come?" he asked.

"I wouldn't feel right about it if you weren't there." She replied.

He kissed her on the forehead gently and said "I'll be there."

In the Lab:

The dream injector 3000 hummed softly. The gateway into the dream world still hung slightly open; despite Cindy's intention to ask Jimmy about it, which was forgotten in her waking. The couples were off on other parts of the island, experiencing their romantic interactions with their respective significant others, when a mysterious yet familiar black sludge oozed its way out of the doorway.

Two Months Later:

Cindy tossed back and forth in her bed. She tried counting sheep, she tried counting prime numbers, and she even tried drinking warm milk. She just wasn't tired despite that the clock said it was 3:00AM. She sat up in her bed and looked out the window. She could see that Jimmy's bedroom light was off. He could be sleeping; she thought to herself, though he could be working late in the lab. She slipped out of bed and found that the floor felt cold on her bare feet.

She slipped on the pair of hover shoes she had kept from the time she had been Witch number 2 in the play Macbeth in Space. Jimmy had told her that she could keep them. He even had modified them to increase their top speed. She enjoyed wearing them. It reminded her of when she was Special Girl. She had really loved being able to fly by the power of her will.

She turned on the shoes and hovered a few inches above the floor as she glided gracefully toward the window. The window creaked as she slid it open. She cursed silently to herself and turned toward her closed bedroom door hoping her parents hadn't been disturbed. She strained to hear any sound that would indicate her parents had awoken. Once she was satisfied she decided it would be best to use one of Jimmy's hologram projectors to give the illusion that she was still sleeping in bed in case her parents checked on her while she was away.

The projector beeped three times and the light flicked for a moment and presto! Her bed appeared like she was fast asleep. She shut off her bedside lamp and glided back toward the open window. The curtains were blowing gently in the breeze. She could hear the sound of crickets in the night and the occasional zap from the bug zapper that was in the neighbor's yard.

The street lamps had switched to power save mode so every other one was off casting the street into shadows. She sighed with relief. No one should be able to notice her, either way she figured it would be safest if she went up about thirty feet in the air before she crossed the street. She tightened her karate belt and made sure her Gi was tightly closed and then flew out the window.

She shivered as she hovered what she figured was about thirty feet above her bedroom window and then stretched out on the air and took off with a whoosh. She angled back downward upon crossing the road flying toward Jimmy's bedroom window. She had picked up a little more speed than she intended, realizing she was going to collide with the window she pointed her hands out, put her head down and aimed for the opening. She was relieved as she passed between the windowsill and the glass pane without making a noise. Her heart was racing from the near miss. It took her a moment to gain control over her breathing.

Jimmy's bed was empty. He must be in the lab. She glided over to the periodic table he had on the wall and quietly moved it to one side revealing a secret entrance to the lab. She had seen him use it several months back when she spied on him with her binoculars. She wasn't sure if she had triggered any silent alarm that would give her presence away; He had changed the lab security system to allow her entrance once they had become close friends; but there was only one way to find out.

She felt a rush as a vacuum tube sucked her into the lab. It wasn't the first time she entered the lab in such a manner but it still felt strange to her. At least this time there was a mattress on the ground to land on; though she bounced off of it and landed on to the floor anyhow. She climbed to her feet, brushed herself off and looked around the lab.

The place was trashed! She barely recognized that she was in the area that Jimmy conducted a lot of his various experiments due to the level of were burnt holes in various places around the lab. She was no expert but Cindy was pretty sure they were from laser place looked more like a battle had occurred as opposed to an explosion. Tables were flipped over, the invisible hamster cage was turned on its side, she had no idea whether or not it was dead or alive; that was more than she could say about the girl eating plant. It had been ripped to shreds, pieces of it littered the area.

The relief of not finding Jimmy in the debris ended when she saw that the blast doors that normally stood between this part of the underground lab and the room with Jimmy's computer system were scorched and bent inward; the doors were glowing from the heat and she was forced to use the nearest fire extinguisher to cool the door enough for her to pass by.

She bit her lip and it took all her control to not let the panic she was feeling to over whelm her as she stepped into the computer room. She place was dark except for the glow of the emergency lights. Various electronic equipment was smashed to pieces, while others sparked with bursts of electricity. The computer monitors were cracked, the image flickered in and computer chair had long cuts in the leather revealing the foam within.

She was relieved that there was no sign of Jimmy. If he isn't hear it means he was most likely alive when he left the lab. It dawned on her to try calling him. She moved quickly and her mind raced. She was thankful that she had his name on speed dial considering that under the stress of the situation that she couldn't remember his phone pressed *1 and the number 262-1909 flashed across the screen. The phone sounded super loud as it began to ring, once, twice, three times. She called over and over again but with no luck. The voice mail kept kicking in. She left message after message practically pleading with him to answer or call her back as soon as possible. She kept at it until an automated voice told her that the voice mail box was full.

Her fingers trembled as she tried calling his home number 555-1546, Jimmy's dad answered; his voice helped make her feel connected to some semblance of normalcy. But She felt her despair return when Mr. Neutron told her that Jimmy was out in the lab and hadn't come in yet. He offered to go out and get him for her, but Cindy insisted that wasn't necessary, fearing what his parents would do if they discovered the lab in such a condition.

She slumped down in the damaged computer chair and felt her heart sink in despair. She broke down and cried. The tears burned as they ran down her cheeks. She normally felt shame for allowing herself to cry, but at this point she didn't care.

She got up and left the computer room and carefully made her way through the wreckage toward the exit. She had almost walked out when a soft red glow caught her eye. She investigated the source of the light and as she got closer she heard a faint dog like whimper, Goddard!

He was badly damaged and pinned under a turned over table. She struggled, some how finding the strength to lift the heavy table off of the mechanical dog. Mechanical servos hummed as the dog dragged it self forward until he was clear of the table. Cindy's muscles groaned in protest as she strained. It was a flood of the relief that she released the table sending it crashing back to the ground with a loud thud.

She cradled Goddard in her arms. The dog whimpered as it looked back at its damaged body, at its broken rear cooed to the dog, telling him that it would all be OK, that Jimmy would fix him as soon as she found him. The dog reacted when she mentioned Jimmy.

"Goddard do you know what happened to Jimmy?" she asked feeling hopeful.

Goddard barked once in an eager sounding way. He struggled to situp to expose his chest panel to show her what he wanted to say. But his front legs gave out and he flopped back down to the ground.

"Oh Goddard! I'm so sorry this happened to you!" She said sadly. Goddard rubbed his head gently against her leg and wagged what was left of his tail. His eyes glowed brightly as they projected an image on the nearest wall. An image of Betty Quinlan appeared on the wall. Cindy listened to the recorded message in horror.

Betty smiled sweetly which was in complete contrast to the words coming out of her mouth. "Hello there Cindy. I left this pathetic replica of a dog partly functional for one reason, to relay a message to you for me. I want you and your friends to come to the island. That is if you ever want to see Jimmy again."

To be continued…..


	23. Into the darkness

Cindy stood in the doorway of the clubhouse to greet her friends. She had pleaded with them to come as fast and discreetly as possible. She was glad to see that they all arrived together so it made it easier to carrel them in swiftly as possible. She glanced around the Neutron yard and at the house. There was no indication that anyone saw them enter the lab so she closed the door and locked it from within.

"Spill it girl, what's going on? What's happening with you and Jimmy? Does he know you're here? Did you two have a fight?" Libby spoke faster and faster as the questions mounted.

"Yeah, what gives Cindy? Do you realize that I'm missing Ultra Lord at this very moment? This better be really important." Sheen almost shouted in agitation.

"STOP IT SHEEN! Jimmy is our friend! Cindy if you're having problems with Jimmy than I want to help cause Jimmy is my best friend. Nothing is more important to me than Jimmy, well expect maybe Jimmy's mom Judy" Carl cooed to himself; suddenly stopping when he saw everyone's eyes go wide. "I mean I was watching the Lama Channel but I had my mom set the VCR so I can watch it later." Carl wheezed; his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

"Alright guys that's enough!" Cindy said sternly. "This is important." She hissed under her breath; "Just follow me." She turned and made her way back into the underground lab through the emergency hatch that was hidden under the rug in the center of the room. She noticed the looks on her friends' faces and volunteered "The power is out in a lot of the areas. We can't use any automated systems at the moment."

She turned the crank and pulled back the heavy steel hatch which groaned in protest. They could make out the top few rungs of a ladder but the tunnel was dark. Cindy was prepared at this point and produced a high power flashlight. The beam cut through the dark and the gang looked down the hole. Carl asked "We have to go down there? What if there are monsters? What if the monsters have Jimmy? His voice became higher pitched as his fear escalated. He paused and sucked hard on his inhaler.

"Calm down Carl. There are no such things as monsters and I'm sure Jimmy is just fine; Right Cindy?"

"Actually Lib that's kind of the reason I asked you guys to come here. He's alive; at least I think he is. I'm not really sure." Cindy replied

"What do you mean you think he's alive?" They all shouted.

"Well he isn't here but there is something that I need to show." She said sadly as she made her way down the ladder. They followed silently into the darkness.

They found themselves in the remains of the lab and were as shocked as Cindy had originally been. At least they had each other to lean on. She wrapped her arms around herself tightly shivering in the cold underground facility. This place had always held such wonder, such untold mysteries which drove her mad with curiosity; but now the place felt like a tomb. She fought every instinct she had to rush out of here and back into the light above.

One hour ago:

The lights had gone out when she was down here with Goddard earlier. She had been so upset that she hadn't noticed the place was running on the backup generator until it sputtered and stopped casting the place into darkness. The place was eerie in the pitch black.

She tried using her cell phone as a source of light but she had drained the battery in her frantic attempts to call Jimmy. Her heart sunk as she watched the screen with the flashing battery symbol as it shutdown. To make matters worse the lasers had scored holes in the walls that water had begun to drip through and the rhythmic dripping sounds reminded her of the cave that she had faced the Medusa monster. She heard other sounds in the dark and wasn't sure if her mind was playing tricks on her. She had that unsettling feeling that she wasn't alone.

She heard rustling but couldn't tell which direction it was coming from. She felt her heart racing and she strained her eyes to see but the bright lights in the lab had left white circles on her pupils that would take a while to go away. In the mean time it gave her the false sense that she could see things moving. Her breathing sounded like explosions in her ears and she swung around in circles with her arms outstretched searching for something or someone to grab on to. She stumbled over debris and banged her shins on things she couldn't identify but she felt that she had to keep moving to get away from the thing she was certain was approaching; possibly the thing that had attacked Jimmy! If the dream Betty had somehow got out of the dream what else could have? What if it was the mime? She felt helpless!

Something brushed up against her ankle in the dark and she screamed. The sound echoed and it hurt her ears. She wished she hadn't done that because now her hearing felt diminished. She found a wall and put her back against it and slid to the ground. She felt the tears stinging in her eyes.

It was a little while before she calmed down enough to make her way back in the direction that should lead back to where she had left Goddard. He might be damaged and unable to do much but he would at least be a source of light. She stood up and kept her one had on the wall and the other stretched out in front her side as she slowly made her way around the room toward the open door that would lead her back to Goddard.

She remembered how her heart leapt with joy when she caught side of his glowing neural net processor. She rushed forward and hugged him tightly. He greeted her happily despite the degree of his injuries. He clearly hadn't liked being left in the dark alone either.

He had managed to use his projector setting to cast enough light to show Cindy the way out. She had felt so grateful; that dog really was Neutron's greatest invention. She was able to see again and the place didn't feel as constrictive even if she could only see within the range of the light beams. She never did see the furry thing that had touched her leg but she felt calm enough to realize it was only Jimmy's invisible hamster. It had survived after all.

One hour later with the group:

She led the group to the place she had left Goddard. He whimpered as he strained to get up again but it was no use. "Oh Goddard" Libby said with her voice full of compassion. "What happened to him, to this place?" Cindy spoke and asked Goddard to please run the message from Betty Quinlan again. He barked once for yes and the image appeared on the wall.

When the message ended the friends realized that Goddard had drained what little energy remained in his damaged system. He whimpered one last time, lowered his head to the ground, and his eyes and the glowing dome that contained his neural net processor went dark as his system completely shut down

Carl asked "So Betty Quinlan has Jimmy? This is terrible!" He shouted hysterically.

Sheen interrupted, "Hey wait a minute; doesn't Jimmy like Betty Quinlan? Are you sure he wants to be rescued?" he let out and painful "oomph" as Libby elbowed him in the stomach. "That hurt! Why did you do that Libby?" he asked feeling betrayed.

She whispered "Cindy liked Jimmy and Jimmy likes Cindy. Remember?"

But Sheen blurted out "What? Jimmy likes Cindy and Cindy likes Jimmy? When did this happen? How long have you been keeping this from me?"

"Forget I mentioned it Sheen." Libby said exasperated. "Look I'm sorry Cindy. Sheen can be kind of an idiot."

"Hey I'm not an idiot!" Sheen shouted in protest. Libby shook her head and said "Ultra Lord."

"WHERE!" Sheen shouted as he frantically looked around. "Hey! Ultra lord isn't here."

"Jimmy has been over Betty for a while Sheen." Libby said angrily, considering how her friend must already be feeling.

"It's ok Libby. First of all Libby is right. Jimmy and I have been dating for a while now. Pretty much before I even woke up from my coma; in fact to be honest before I was in the coma in the first place. We were taking off together on romantic outings since the night of our last Kid's News broadcast, since the night of our first kiss." Cindy said her cheeks turning slightly red.

"You guys kissed?"Sheen asked excitedly. "Carl did you know about this?"

"Yes Sheen I did. In fact I'm proud to say I saw their first kiss" Carl said proudly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sheen asked feeling even more betrayed.

"I was respecting their privacy Sheen! I didn't feel it was my place to tell anyone." Carl said with dignity. Cindy smiled in appreciation before she interrupted the conversation to redirect it back to what was important.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but if you don't mind I really must continue explaining. That isn't Betty. I know it looks like Betty but I'm pretty positive it's actually a creature I created in my imagination. This is going to take a little time to explain and I would prefer to do it outside. Can you guys help me carry Goddard outside? I don't want to leave him here."

"Sure of course we'll help" They all said in unison.

Carl and Sheen insisted that they could manage, so they picked him up and Cindy led the way to the exit. The ladder proved too difficult to climb with Goddard on anyone's single back so instead they lowered a rope down and tied it securely around the dog's torso and heaved him up and out of the shaft. They decided it would be safest to bring Goddard to Sheen's house since his dad was away on business and his grandmother wasn't exactly mentally all there.

Once they were settled down on the floor on bean bag chairs; that had been stored in the closet under a dozens of Ultra lord action figures and Cindy took a seat on the edge of Sheen's bed; they were ready to hear what Cindy had to tell.

She told them everything. She spoke of the dream world and its wonders and horrors. She spoke of Archimedes and Valerie Lee. She explained how things could not only hurt you in the dream world but they could become real if they were pulled into reality. She explained how the portal hadn't closed properly once Valerie Lee had exited but she didn't remember that until she had seen the creature in the video. She figured it must have used the opening to escape.

"If this thing came out of the lab on the island and came here to kidnap Jimmy in order to drag him back to the island, wouldn't the dragons have seen this going on and helped Jimmy?" Libby asked.

"They would have if they were there." Cindy replied. "I always imagined that dragons would live happily in the mountains. You know it high up caves where a knight would have difficulty climbing up if it intended to fight the dragon? Well anyhow Archimedes and Val flew off together to search for such mountains. Jimmy had suggested that they would like the Andes Mountains so that is where they most likely are."

"Can't you signal them somehow? We could normally but the equipment is all trashed. We have two options. The first option is that we head to the Andes Mountains and look for them. The second option is to sneak into the lab on the island and hope that not only do we not get caught but we also find working equipment." She lacked the confidence that Jimmy would have had in such moments and it showed in her tone.

"It would be best if we split up into two teams. Carl and Sheen can head to the Andes and look for the dragons. You and me can head to the island and try to use that dragon signal. What do you say Cindy?"

"I'm up for it. There is only one problem. How are we going to get there? Everything here is broken." She asked.

They all looked at each other with hopeless expressions except for Carl. He grinned and said "I know how we can get there. We can take Jimmy's emergency hovercraft and rocket."

"What emergency hovercraft and rocket?" They chimed once again in unison with shock filled expressions.

"Jimmy built an underground bunker beneath the school about a year ago. He showed it to me but made me promise to keep it a secret and to only go there in case of an emergency. This looks like an emergency to me."

To be Continued….


	24. Under the school

A/N: Cindy knows that they are heading to face the Betty look alike again and if that thing escaped there is no telling what else may have escaped. There are untold dangerous creations in a mind so creative and they are only limited by her imagination...

Carl led the gang through the school yard and stopped in front of the merry go round. He grabbed on to the railing and tentatively climbed up onto it. He staggered awkwardly as he tried to maintain his balance. "Jimmy hid the number key thingy here." He twisted the cap on top of the post on the merry go round counter clockwise and removed it revealing the numerical key pad underneath. "Now if I can only remember what numbers to press." Carl said frowning.

"Carl!" They all shouted in unison. Carl cringed and apologized for his forgetfulness.

"Come on Carl; take your time. You'll remember; you've got to." Cindy said encouragingly.

"Yeah Carl, No pressure; It's only Jimmy's life on the line!" Sheen shouted.

"Sheen!" Libby elbowed him in the side to emphasize her words. "Leave Carl alone and let him think." He opened his mouth to say something else but her glare silenced him.

"I'm trying guys I really am. But I can't remember what they are. Jimmy said if there was an emergency to tell Cindy, "Happy Birthday", but I don't see how that would help us." Carl stared at the ground and scratched his head.

"Happy Birthday? Cindy's birthday isn't until June 5th." Libby said.

"No lib don't you get it? The code is my birthday. Carl type in 6,5,1,9,9,8." Cindy said the excitement showing in her tone.

Carl typed away quickly but stopped short. "Cindy I don't think that's it. It only allows for four numbers."

"Then try typing in 6,5,9,9 Carl." She said impatiently.

Carl plugged in the new series of digits and they heard an audible chime before the led read out on the panel flashed "Code Accepted".

"It worked guys. Alright follow me." He slipped off the end of the merry go round and stumbled forward toward the basketball court. They discovered that the pavement had slid back revealing a stair well that went underground. The stair well was lit by circular shaped lamps which was a relief to Cindy considering the darkness she had been trapped in was still an unpleasant and recent memory that would haunt her for the next few weeks for sure.

The stairs went deep underground, and ended at a giant steel door with a giant Neutron symbol carved into it. They were surprised to see another key pad. Carl typed in Cindy's birthday again but the read out said access denied followed by a negative sounding beep.

"Hmm Jimmy added this since the last time I was here guys and if Cindy's birthday didn't work…" Carl trailed off feeling defeated. They all looked solemn except for Cindy. She was determined not to fail Jimmy. They had to figure out what the code was. She began typing every combination of four digits she could think of that would mean anything to Jimmy. But none of them seemed to work. She swore under breath as she glanced at her watch and saw that she had been at this for the last two hours. The sweat beaded on her forehead and her fingers were sore from pushing the hard keys so many times. She also struggled to control how claustrophobic she felt in the confines of the tunnel and she shuddered for a moment when she imagined the lights going out around here.

She stared at the panel hoping of somehow it would help her divulge the secret of the code. Her eyes raced back and forth searching every piece of the walls, doors, and panel; hoping to find something she over looked. She kept looking back to a scratch on the control panel in the right hand corner. The scratch seemed so out of place on an other wise flawless door. She scratched at it and her mind drifted back to the day she carved "J + C forever" it was the day she had asked Jimmy to stay on the island with her. The day Jimmy finally got an idea how she really felt about him despite how violently she had tried to keep the secret safe in the past.

_How could I have forgotten to try that particular date? I guess it's because that whole block of time blurred together in my mind. I was just so excited being so close to him. I never really paid attention to the dates I suppose. I really only remember the specific date because it was also the first day of what was going to be two months of grounding. That is it would have been if Jimmy hadn't used his Forget o' blaster on them and erased our being gone from all of our parents minds. Damn I love that kid. Its just so hard to think straight around him. I should beat him up for it. He really does deserve it; getting me all worked up the way he does. Getting himself kidnapped and always risking our lives….but he's so cute and he does always go out of his way to make sure I'm safe….._

"Cindy? Cindy? You there girl? The door is open; we can go in." Libby was snapping her fingers in front of Cindy's face until her green eyes focused.

"Huh! What happened?" Cindy asked realizing she had gotten lost in her thoughts again. She felt her face flush with embarrassment at allowing herself to be distracted again. Especially considering that she was wasting time that should be being spent rescuing the very person she was day dreaming about. "I'm fine. I think it must have been a defense mechanism of the lab, a gas, yeah that's it. Thanks for snapping me out of it." She lied quickly as she typed in the new date. She sighed as she heard the audible beep and the words Access Granted flashed across the screen as she hurried forward through the open doorway. _He is so romantic…._

They entered a room full of monitors. They displayed images being broadcast from one of a variety of satellites that Jimmy had hacked into and video cameras he had set up. As they entered the room they must have set off a motion sensor because Jimmy's voice suddenly resonated throughout the chamber. "Hey guys. If I'm correct and I'm correct 89.23% of the time. Then there is an emergency and I'm speaking to Carl, Libby, Sheen, and Cindy. If that is the case than that means something has happened to me. Anyhow I designed the computer system within the confines of this lab with artificial intelligence. It has been programmed with complex algorithms which make it proficient with solving complex problems. In other words it should be able to help you to handle pretty much anything that you're up against. Well at least I hope it can. Oh if by chance I am dead tell my parents I love them and someone please feed Goddard. " The message must have ended because the room fell silent.

"Hum so what in Ultralord do we do now? Sheen asked.

A hologram of Jimmy appeared in the center of the room and answered "It depends what the problem is Sheen."

"Whoa is that you Jimmy?" Sheen asked in surprise.

"No but I am a clever proximity of the real Jimmy. I have his amazing intellect, and as you can see due to my holographic upgrade, I now have his devilish good looks as well." The hologram winked as he gave the group of them a grin.

Cindy rolled her eyes and sighed with disgust. "Oh lord, even his hologram is full of itself. Alright Neutron or whatever you are, listen up, the real Jimmy has been kidnapped and is being held hostage on an island in the south pacific. The lab in Jimmy's yard has been destroyed, we have to get out to the island and we have no means of getting there, and don't even know what we're going to face if we make it there."

"I see. Ok well let's start with finding out what you're up against. Watch that monitor." They turned to watch the monitor the hologram had indicated. The screen flashed in and out for a moment and the island appeared on the screen. The camera zoomed in slowly and Cindy was astonished at how different the island looked.

Pyramids had been erected at six points around the island. The main one in the center of the island was the largest and the only one that was guarded by hundreds of soldiers armed with spears and shields. Demonic looking creatures flew through the air circling about, while giant forty foot snakes slithered around the base of the stairs that led up to the top of the pyramid.

"It's a safe bet that's the location Jimmy is being held." Cindy said. " I say we go anyhow."

"Agreed; Jimmy would do it for us." Said Carl and Sheen.

"Guys, how are we going to handle an army like that?" Libby asked nervously.

"Actually Libby I designed something that should help. The tools you will need are within the next chamber." As he spoke a panel in the wall slid upward.

They looked around the room and saw that there were five pods sitting on rail tracks that went into separate tunnels. Each pod was numbered.

The hologram appeared in the room and said "You have to use the uniforms you will find in the nearby lockers. They are made out of a patented Neutron fabric that will automatically adjust to fit the wearer. The uniform has a fiber optic cables woven into it that when used in tandem with the matching helmet allow the user to connect in with his respective mech." He paused for affect.

Sheen's eyes went wide "Did he say mech?"

"Yes I did Sheen. I have a mech for each of you. They are equipped with the most advanced fire power that I was able to adapt using a combination of Gorlokian and Earth based technology."

"This is great! With these mechs we will rescue you Jimmy. I swear on the honor of Ultralord to not fail you!" Sheen shouted at the ceiling.

The hologram shook its head with a smile and continued the tutorial. "The pods will transport you to your respective mechs and can be activated using the keys locked within this panel." A separate panel slid open but the gang was horrified to discover a hole in the wall and an empty display case that once held the keys. "

"Where are they?" Cindy screamed on the verge of hysteria.

Sheen bent over and picked something off the ground. "Hey what is this thing?"

The hologram responded "It's a primer for a small explosive used for entering facilities through armored doors. Whoever did this must have been well equipped and well trained. They deactivated the security system for this room without alerting the main frame of the breach of security. Someone paid handsomely for this job. I can think of only one person who has the not only the means but the motive as well. Someone that is always trying to steal my inventions and will stop at almost nothing to kill me; Eustace Stryche"

To be continued…..


	25. Tied up inside

A/N: I want to thank everyone has reviewed so far. Please keep it up so I know people are enjoying the way the story is heading. Thanks in advance.

Jimmy:

Jimmy woke up to a throbbing head ache. His face felt crusted on the right side from the dried blood that had come out of a cut over his eye brow he had received during the battle in the lab. His neck hurt when he moved it side to side as it cracked the crusted blood on his neck from where she had been feeding. His mind felt disoriented almost like he was under water. He looked around confused as he attempted to identify where he was.

He was in a room made out of stone blocks. The lighting came from torches that were fastened to the walls with iron holders. There was large hole in the ceiling which allowed Jimmy to calculate where he was based on the alignment of the stars. _She took my communicator watch. Great I know I'm in the South Pacific but how am I going to tell anyone; that is if I get out of these ropes. _

Jimmy Struggled against the thick ropes that bound him to the chair. It was no use however. He wasn't one to give up however and he kept at it until the chair fell over backward. He gasped as giant snakes hissed and slithered around him. The closest one arched its head back ready to strike in its anger from being disturbed, but stopped suddenly when a commanding, yet familiar voice billowed out "Stop!" The snake immediately calmed down and slithered off into one of the many holes that were bored into the walls.

Jimmy turned to see the source of the voice; it was the creature that resembled Betty. Her eyes flicked occasionally from snake eyes to normal human brown eyes before finally settling on the brown eyes.

"Oh my poor baby" Betty said as she approached.

"I'm not your baby. Let me go, untie me!" he shouted in defiance. She laughed. Her laugh echoed through the chamber.

"But Jimmy", she purred, "Haven't you always wanted to be with me, to be more than friends?" Jimmy watched her silently and found himself attracted to her despite the intelligent part of his mind raging against it. She was so alluring. She was wearing a purple cloak that hung to her ankles and a snake head dress; the kind where the person's face is showing through the snakes open mouth; a snake skin armored sports bra which left her stomach exposed revealing her tight abs. Jimmy found his eyes glancing over her sensual curves and he found himself pleased with what he saw.

He shook his head violently and shouted "you're not really Betty! You're just a mythical construct conjured up from a repressed fear or possibly a manifestation of Cindy's jealousy over Betty in regards to her feelings for me. -(His cheeks flushed red)- In other words you're nothing more than a figment of Cindy's imagination.

She stood the chair back up forcing him upward. The wind felt jarred out of him from the impact of the chair settling and he let out a gasp. Betty sat on his lap wrapping her legs and arms around him. She stared into his eyes and smiled sweetly. _Oh man she smells so good! She really does seem to be the real Betty. But I know this is a fake. _

"Jimmy I'm not a fake unless you want to believe I am; just use your imagination. Think of it this way but what is reality? It's only a man made construct that we all adhere to because everyone shares your point of view. But reality changes as everyone's opinion shifts. I am very much real. Cindy's imagination may have created me, but your invention made me real. I don't want to hurt you.

"You don't want to hurt me? How can you say that? You've attacked me, kidnapped me, and fed on me?"

"I was new to the world and only following the functions I had always followed within Cindy's imagination. I have to come to realize that in this world I have free will. I don't have to be a monster that tries to kill you and eat you. Things have changed. I want to be with you, and for you to be with me."

She placed her hands to his cheeks. Her hands felt warm and silky and he felt guilty over his enjoyment of being his close to her. His heart almost exploded with excitement when she went in for the kiss. He did try to resist; he turned his face side to side as he tried to avoid her lips but eventually they found their mark. Her kiss was deep and more than a little pleasant and slowly the kiss became deeper and before he knew it, he was kissing her back.

The gang:

The group made their way to Eustace Stryche's mansion. They had to take the bus and then walk the rest of the way there. They hadn't realized how far the place really was having taken the hover car for granted. They had chosen to not involve their parents. But they finally made it to the giant steel gate that surrounded the Stryche family estate.

The place looked large and quite foreboding even in the day; it looked even more intimidating at night. The house sat on top of a hill across about a half of mile of open yard. Spotlights illuminated the massive yard revealing fountains and statues decorated the landscape. _ It must take forever to mow this lawn; if this is the front yard I can only imagine what the back yard looks like. Though I had heard it had a massive hedge maze that covered over a square mile; _Cindy thought to herself_. _

Cindy rang the bell and waited. A video monitor came on and a maid asked in a strong British accent, "Hello, may I ask for the reason that you are calling at this hour?"

"We're here to see that little puke!" Cindy was cut off by Libby wrapping her hand around her mouth. "What she means to say is that we are here to see Eustace Stryche." Libby quickly said politely with a short laugh.

"May I ask for your names?" the maid asked.

"I'm Libby Folfax; this is Cindy Vortex, Carl Wheezer, and Sheen Estevez."; Libby added; "We're friends of Eustace."

"One moment please." The maid left the video monitor running as she walked out of view. They could see a fire place in the background with a large portrait of Eustace above it. It seemed like a metaphor to his vanity.

They heard some shouting followed up by someone running down the hallway over the speakers. Suddenly and quite out of breath Eustace appeared. He took a few moments to catch his breath and then spoke. "Can it really be? Is that You Cynthia? It is! And I see you brought your friends; how wonderful."

Cindy felt the heat flush through her face as she fought to control her anger. "Yes, it's me Eustace."

"What do I owe a visit from you at this hour?" he asked in a tone that sounded genuinely curios.

"We need to speak to you in person. Please let us in?" She replied.

"I'm a busy man and really don't have time to entertain any guests, but I'll make an exception under the circumstances of your coming here. How could I refuse to let you in? After all, I would hate to miss out on a chance to get reacquainted with someone as beautiful as you." He paused a moment to watch her face on the monitor before holding up a small box with a red button in the center of it that he pressed as he said," Come on up. I'll even get the door myself. "

Cindy felt her cheeks flush at his calling her beautiful. She couldn't tell anymore if he was being serious or using such things as a ploy to hurt Jimmy through her. She hated having to come to this place but she had to play nice and find out what happened to the keys to the mechs if they had any chance of saving Jimmy. _ Oh Jimmy. I hope you're alright._

To be continued….


	26. Gatherings

**Stryche Manor:**

Cindy followed the group up the steps of the mansion. There were two lion statues on the main posts of each stair railing that seemed to act as guardian sentinels. Cindy kept her eyes fixed on the one closest to her. In the moonlight she almost could swear she saw it move. She leapt back as it stretched and yawned."Its alive guys!" She shouted. The lion turned and stared, clearly annoyed at her outburst. "Don't bother them and they won't bother you." A voice said over a loudspeaker. They were later told that it was a security guard that monitors the property.

The main doors were solid oak with black cast iron fixtures. As they approached the doors swung openly revealing Eustace in the center of the doorway with his faithful servant Blix standing at his side. Cindy caught herself staring at him and felt a little guilty and foolish over it. _That chowder head may be handsome but he's only acting nice until he can squeeze in another chance to hurt me. I won't fall for his crap again. _

Eustace greeted them in a polite manner. "Greetings, I hope the lions haven't scared you to badly. They were daddy's idea. He thinks they make a great addition to the security of the place. Anyhow I'm really glad to see you my friends, especially you Cynthia." His eyes seemed to glow with the light of the moon as he fixed them on hers. He maintained eye contact as he allowed his grin to grow across his face. Cindy felt herself blush despite her resolve to not fall for his charm and broke eye contact. Eustace seemed pleased and said "Please come in, come in. Let me have the maid fetch you something to eat or at least to drink."

"Oh that's ok. We really don't have a lot of time." Cindy began to say but was cut off by Carl who said "Actually I would love to have a purple flurp and maybe some of those crackers with cheese. That is if it's not to much trouble. "

" It is no trouble at all my good man! Please follow me into the lounge." He turned and led them down a long corridor that was lined with portraits and statues. Everything here screamed expensive. Carl stopped to look at one of the portraits. It showed what appeared to be Eustace riding a horse on a fox hunt. "Hey Eustace, this is a really nice painting of you." Carl said.

"Actually Carl that painting is of my great great grandfather. Eustace Alexander Stryche. He loved spending his afternoons hunting foxes. He was rather good at it. There is a closet on the fourth floor that is completely filled with fox furs."

"Those poor foxes." Carl said saddly.

"I know how you feel Carl. But times were different then. It was considered to be a very popular sport. I think mainly because it helped keep chickens safe for the local farmers by lowering the population of the foxes. Now a days you would have animal rights activists all over your butts if you tried such a hunt. Anyhow the lounge is right through this next door we can sit and chat in there."

**In the BTSO (Big Top Secret Organization) Headquarters:**

Commander Baker paced back and forth. His men sat around the oval table in the planning room waiting for him to speak. The atmosphere in the room was tense and had been for some time. He kept glancing at his watch and seemed more anxious every time.

The steel doors opened with a whoosh and the Jet Fusion walked in. Commander Baker sighed with relief. "Agent X I'm glad you finally decided to join us in here." The sarcasm rolled off his tongue.

"Sorry chief. I came as fast as I could but that mission in Afghanistan was a little hairy. But I did save the President's daughter afterall." He grinned as flashed a piece of paper that had a phone number and a lipstick kiss on it. "She was rather grateful and I'll be working with her covertly for a while anyhow."

"Ahh yes. Well I'm glad that worked out for you. Anyhow please be seated and I'll begin the briefing."

Jet took his seat and threw his legs up on top of the table, settling in for the speech he knew was coming. Commander Baker stared coldly at him for a moment but must have decided it wasn't worth arguing over. So instead he started by saying "It's been almost a week now since we lost track of Agent Neutron."

"Hold up. The kid is missing?" Jet Fusion said as he rushed to his feet.

"I'm afraid so. We had detected an SOS that was being broadcast from within his underground lab. Agents were dispatched to his aid but when they arrived they found that the lab had sustained heavy damage, was without power, and there was no sign of Agent Neutron. Who ever did this took him with them."

"You must have an idea who took him or where he is, right?" Jet asked.

"We don't know who took him, but thanks to a tracking device we were able to trace his location to a small uncharted island in the south pacific. Our scouts tell me that Agent Neutron is being held within a large pyramid in the center of the island. It is heavily fortified and heavily guarded." Commander Baker said.

"He's my little buddy. Let me go in there and get him." Jet said

"I thought you might say something like that Agent X. Let me say that I'm glad we have your support. You won't be alone on this one. We have been given authorization from higher up to use any means necessary to retrieve Agent Neutron and return him to his family. This comes from the top Brass. It has been given an Alpha Omega priority, Jet. You will have every man we have at your disposal on this one. I was hoping you would lead the raid."

"Commander with all do respect, I don't think it's a good idea for us to rush in there, guns a blazing. If who ever is holding Jimmy, sees an army coming they might do something drastic. It could put his life in jeopardy." Jet said.

"Go on. I'm listening." Baker replied.

"Let me go in myself. If I fail then you can send in the calvary. But at least give me seventy two hours to infiltrate in and get the kid out of there." Jet said.

"Your on. But remember in seventy two hours we move in." Baker said.

"Deal." Jet said with a grin.

"Alright report to supply and gather any equipment you will need. Your seventy two hours just started Agent X." Commander Baker went back to monitoring his computer and ignored Jet Fusion as he exited the room. Baker sighed to himself and said a short prayer. "Please let Agent X be successful and please Let Agent Neutron be safe."

**Neutron Home:**

Hugh can you call Jimmy in from his lab? It's getting late and it's passed his bed time." Judy asked.

"Sure thing Butter Bonnet." Hugh replied as he headed out into the back yard.

A few minutes later Hugh came running into the house "Sugar Dumpling!" he shouted.

"What's wrong Hugh?" Judy called back as she came running down the stairs.

"Where's Jimmy?" she asked, the fear creeping through her.

"Jimbo isn't in the lab but its all destroyed and stuff. Quick come see." He grabbed her wrist and yanked her after him as he ran.

To be continued…..


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: **Thank you for all your great feed back so far. I'm glad to know that you are all enjoying the story. As you can tell things are getting more complicated for the characters as the story unfolds. I hope that you like the direction that I'm taking the story in. **  
**

**Jimmy:**

The creature that resembled Betty stood on top of the main pyramid and gazed out over the land. She could see the other five pyramids from this vantage point, even though they were miles apart. Each pyramid was crowned with a special disc that had been forged out of the dream metal. "_Soon his friends will come to rescue him-" _Betty thought to herself. She turned gracefully, her split cape fluttering in the wind, and went back inside.

Her thoughts continued to race through her mind as she made her way through the torch lit hallways until she found the room she was looking for. Once inside she found herself standing in front of a leathery skinned egg and gently caressed it on the side. "It won't be long before the transformation is complete my love. Your friends will come to rescue you. But it's too late. My power is nearly complete. I only need one last thing." She said as she gazed down at the onyx ring that she wore on her pointer finger. It was designed with a two headed snake, one had a pearl in it's mouth, the other did not.

"Cindy will lead the rescue. She won't be able to resist, poor predicatable Cindy. When she comes for you She will be mine, and when I have her I will have her pearl." Betty aimed the ring at the egg and concentrated. A purple colored light erupted out of the ring engulfing the egg. The air crackled with static electricty; Betty could feel the hairs on her arms stand up and the hair on her head blew around from the force of the energy as it cut through the air. Her ears hurt from the sound of the blast but she concentrated on her task.

After about thirty seconds she lowered the ring and the glow faded. The room grew silent. "Wake up my lover! Be reborn to my world!" She shouted in excitement as the thing that had been Jimmy woke within the egg. She watched as the egg pulsated, the shell cracked and a leathery skinned hand punched its way out of the weakened shell. She stepped forward and assisted, grabbing pieces of shell and pulling them away. It was sticky with fluid and she found it difficult to pull pieces away.

He emerged covered with that nasty yellowish fluid and climbed slowly and clumsily into the soapy water filled tub she had prepared near the egg. He rubbed the soap through his brown hair with his clawed leathery skinned hands. She was enthralled how muscular his body had become. His formerly blue eyes now glowed with a yellow iredecence. His canines had grown into two long poison tipped fangs.

"Concentrate on looking human my love-" She said. He closed his reptilian eyes and began to shimmer. A moment passed and his body shapeshifted to resemble his former human appearance. She offered him a towel as he climbed out of the tub.

"Your friends will come to rescue you Jimmy." She said to him as he turned to face her. His beautiful blue eyes sparkled and his grin was once again boyish and seemingly friendly.

"I don't think they will be a problem, Betty. Let me show you a theorem mathematically proving why they won't be a threat to us." He paused to watch her expression and it made him laugh a moment . She frowned. He became serious and his voice changed to a guttural demonic tone-"I'll rip them to shreds and feast on their insides if they stand in our way." His eyes changed over to snake eyes and his teeth grew into fangs again…

**Jet Fusion:**

Within the inside of a aircraft, Jet Fusion aka Agent X was ready to bale out at an altitude of three thousand feet. He checked his equipment one last time to ensure everything was secure. When the green light turned on the door opened and he launched himself out with grunt. He began to free fall. The tether line he had attached to the side of the plane caught and it automatically deployed his shoot. He rate of descent decreased and he pulled out his MP5K and held it at the ready.

One of the gargoyle like creatures, that were circling the sky around the pyramids, caught sight of him and let out a high pitched roar. "Great, Well I didn't get dressed up for nothing." Jet said through clenched teeth. He flipped his weapon from safe to semi and took aim at the nearest approaching flyer. They were grotesque creatures with leathery wings and diamond tipped tails. There faces seemed distorted and a mockery of human expressions. A lesser man would have given into despair at having to face such adversaries, but not Jet Fusion.

Jet pulled the trigger and the gun bucked in his hands. The shot went wide; the sound left a ringing in his ears. He had to twist in the ropes to get a view of his surroundings. The nearest gargoyle swooped upward claws descended, murder its intent. The next shot was true and the creature fell out of the sky with a hole in the middle of its forehead. The wind currents were strong and it he was finding it very difficult to maintain his heading while engaging the creatures. He could tell he was going to land off course.

He pulled hard on his guide line and the parachute fluttered in the wind as he banked to the left; correcting his course. Three more gargoyles came at him and he flipped the selector switch from semi to burst. He waited until they were almost on him and pulled the trigger several times while swinging the weapon from left to right filling the air with hot lead. He caught the first gargoyle in the chest, blood erupting from the impact; the creature fell out of the sky clutching the wound. The other two managed to evade the attack but ducked off in opposite directions.

Jet was still about 100 hundred feet in the air when one of the gargoyles returned. He managed to hit its wing and it fell like the others. He scanned his surroundings. The coast seemed clear. That was until the parachute shuttered, jerking Jet hard. The last gargoyle attacked from above. He couldn't get a clean shot without risking hitting the shoot. The fabric tore as razor sharp claws sliced through it. The thin slits in the fabric expanded rabidly under the high pressure exerted by the wind. Jet felt a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach as he began to fall faster. He looked down to see the crown of the nearest tree rushing up to meet him.

**Eustace Stryche Manor:**

Eustace sat intently listening to Cindy as she explained the whole story. He waited to respond for about a minute after she finished speaking so his mind could absorb everything he had heard.

"Ok so let me get this straight, you believe I had something to do with a break-in at Neutron's lab involving keys to mech robots. Neutron had a battle with a creature that resembles Betty Quinlan that came out of your imagination, and is now being held captive by her, and you need my help? " he asked.

"Yes and I hate to admit it but we can't do it without you." Cindy added.

"Cynthia, I swear I had nothing to do with the actual theft at the lab but I have a good idea where the keys to your mechs are." He said.

"So you really are going to help us?" Cindy asked.

"Of course I will. Why wouldn't I? A man's life is in danger. I can't stand idly by and do nothing." Every eye went wide in the room but none wider than Cindy's.

"Alright what gives? What's the trick? You've been acting really nice since we got here and it's not at all like you. Who are you really? Where is the real Eustace?" Libby demanded.

"Maybe this guy is an alien pod version of Eustace, like in Ultralord vs. the body snatchers" Sheen added.

He stepped back in shock. "I'm not an alien, Sheen. But I must ask you Libby, Is my descendant so rotten that by simply being willing to help you save your friend would reveal that I wasn't the kid you know?" He asked.

Cindy opened her mouth to answer but decided it would be best to act like she knew what he was talking about and let him speak.

"Alright, I'm not the person you think I am. I didn't think it would be that obvious. My real name is Eustace Alexander Stryche." He said.

"That's the same name as the guy in the painting! You're a ghost!" Carl shouted.

"No Carl, I'm not a ghost. I was brought here from the past. I was conducting an experiment with a friend of mine that is a scientist. The experiment was focused on temporal time displacement. As you can see, it worked, however it was a one way trip and I haven't been able to return to my own time as of yet. The Eustace you know is away with his father on business. His father is aware I am here and my predicament I must add. He has given me full access to his or I should say my old fortune in order to return to my own time. So far there has been no luck. The records of the original experiment were destroyed in a fire back in 1910. So its like starting from scratch I'm afraid." Eustace replied.

"This story sounds a bit far fetched. But it makes a lot of sense considering your new behavior. But if you are who you claim to be, than how do you know who we are? Cindy asked.

"I know who you are through a combination of what Blix has told me and surveillance camera footage from the time you all came to the mansion before. Blix painted a different picture of my relative though and made him sound like a good kid. I suppose I can respect such loyalty. I want to apologize for his behavior, I promise you that I will make sure he receives proper correction." He replied.

"My friend Jimmy has a time machine. His original equipment was destroyed in the lab at his house but he has a second one in the lab on the island I mentioned before. If we can rescue him I'm sure he can get you home." Cindy said.

"That would be wonderful. I have an idea of how we can work this out. The trick behind time travel, assuming that I will get home, is that I can make sure to do actions in the past that will help us now." Eustace said.

"Oh of course-" Sheen said to Eustace but then turned to Carl and said "I don't get it."

"Well Sheen suppose when I go back in time I commission to have a secret passage made through a wall, say in this very room." Eustace replied.

"Oh I get it and you could activate it by pushing a secret button that would be hidden under a stone on the fire place." Libby added.

"Now your getting it." Eustace replied as he turned to face the fire place. He felt around until he found a loose brick and pulled it away revealing a small metal switch. Everyone gasped including himself. "It really was only a theory but the good news is that this must mean I at least get home." He flipped the switch and a panel on the wall slid open exposing a dark dusty passageway. They flipped on their flashlights and went down to the passageway. Once everyone was inside the panel slid back into place.

The hallway led to a large bunker underneath the house. The walls were reinforced with steel. The entrance was a large blast door sealed with a wheel style crank. Eustace turned the wheel and hissing of escaping gas accompanied the opening door. They ducked low and stepped inside. "I found a light switch guys" Carl said as the room lit up.

The room was empty except for something in the center of the room. "Wow this is really something Eustace. But why didn't you fill the room with weapons and stuff?" Sheen asked.

"Well I come from a time period that really wasn't very high tech. The time machine was considered really sophisticated. Maybe I didn't have access to going forward in time to collect things I would need. But I don't believe that is true. If I really do end up in the past because our mission is successful then that thing in the center of the room must be the only thing that we need ."

"I'm down with that." Libby said.

They approached with wonder and saw that it was a raised pedestal that contained a display case and within they could see the five keys to the mechs Jimmy had created for them.

To be continued…..


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: **I want to give credit where credit is due before I introduce the next chapter. I want to first repeat that I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any other character I use in my story. This story is for fun and I will continue to spice it up with elements of things I have enjoyed over the years. I want to thank the readers that have stuck with me this far and I hope you will enjoy the twist I am adding into the latest chapters. I must give credit for a few non Jimmy related things that have inspired me for this and are owed credit. John J. Rambo and Voltron: Defender of the Universe-(The original anime show). I have debated about introducing these elements into the story but they seem right. I hope none of you disagree. Thanks for your support.

**Jet Fusion:**

Jet hit the tree hard. He felt the rush as the leaves and branches scratched him heavily as he continued falling. He smacked into one large branch which caused him to flip to one side and into several others until he finally broke his fall against another branch. The pain was excruciating in his arms and side. His arm was gashed open and he was pretty sure he had a broken rib but at least he was alive; at least for the moment; the frustrated screech of the gargoyle proved as a good motivator for him to get moving.

He frantically looked around for his MP5K but he had dropped it when he hit the tree. "_There!" _he shouted within his own mind. The weapon was hanging from one of the lower branches by its sling. He began climbing downward, every one of his muscles screaming for him to rest. But there wasn't time for that, even now the gargoyle flung itself into the tree line and was clawing its way through the thick crown of the tree to get at him.

He knew he would never reach his weapon in time. So he stood on the thickest branch he could get to and braced himself with his back to the tree. He flipped his thumb unlatching his 15 3/8th survival knife. He tested the edge as he quickly looked the knife over. The blade was 10 inches long with a black matt finish, razor sharp on one side with a saw back. -(The handle was hollow and contained a survival kit: fishing line; hooks; matches; compass)-

He held the knife menacingly in front of him, waving it back in forth in the gargoyle's face as it walked along the branch toward him. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way big fella." Jet said.

The creature roared in response. Its eyes glowed red and it bared long sharp teeth and a forked tongue. Its muscular chest rippled as it breathed.

It was a killing machine but so was Jet Fusion; years of training and real world experience had honed his skills. He decided to take the defense. He waited for the attack.

The gargoyle was hungry for sustenance. It could smell the blood dripping from its prey and it salivated in anticipation. It struggled to be cautious within its primitive mind. It knew that the human was dangerous. It had killed its brothers. But that was with the thing that had made loud noises,that had hurt its ears. But it could see the thunder maker hanging from the branch far below; it would not be an issue. It slowly stepped forward; slightly unsure of the new thing its prey was waving around.

It had closed the distance between it and its prey. The time had come to strike; the time had come to feed. It swung its razor sharp claws at Jet, sure it was about to make an easy kill. The prey ducked, avoiding the strike.

It felt a flash of hot white pain. Its mind raced to understand what just happened. But its thoughts grew fuzzier than normal and a moment later it was choking on its own blood as it bled out the giant gaping hole in its throat. It died on its feet and the red glow in its eyes was distinguished. Those once fierce eyes were now dull and lifeless. The creature toppled over backward and fell to the ground twenty feet below.

Jet descended the rest of the way to the ground, only pausing to retrieve his gun. He flipped the weapon on safe, dropped the magazine, and cleared the chamber. He checked the action and was relieved to find that the weapon hadn't been damaged in the fall. He reloaded it and spun toward some undergrowth nearby. His keen ears had picked up the sound of snapping twigs. He aimed the weapon in the direction, dropped to one knee, and waited patiently. A small furry rodent wandered out of the bushes. _"Phew, its just a rabbit. I guess the coast is clear for now."_

He had to get back on course and find the crate of supplies that the plane had dropped for him. But first he had to tend his wounds. "_My ribs are killing me. They don't seem to be broken, just bruised. I should still wrap my chest with something to protect them for now. I don't have any bandages, but some leather from the wings of that gargoyle should work. But I better stop my arm from bleeding first. But I don't have any sutures here; that's all in the supply crate. I'll bleed out by the time I make it there." _He thought to himself as he glanced at the survival knife. _ "This is going to hurt a lot but it worked in First Blood the movie." _He frowned at the thought but got started before he lost his nerve. He threaded the fishing hook with the fishing line and sewed up the gash in his arm. The pain was excruciating but at the least the bleeding stopped. After that a few careful slices through the fallen gargoyles wings provided him with enough leather to wrap his bruised ribs. _"This stuff stinks but it's working. Well I've got my barings. I should only be a few kilometers off course. I feel so tired but Jimmy's time is limited. I better get going._

Jet began his journey through the jungle. He didn't know what dangers lay within the interior of the island, but he was going to find out.

**The Gang:**

Cindy sat quietly in the limousine as she was driven back to the school and the awaiting mechs. Her mind raced over what they would find. "_Knowing Neutron they will be astonishing, but then again everything the kid does is." _She thought to herself with a smile. But those happy thoughts turned sad as she worried about where he was and who he was with. _"Why did it always have to be Betty Quinlan? Miss I'm so beautiful and perfect. Hell even in my dreams that girl torments me. It makes me so angry; the way she flirts with Jimmy, and the way he goes along with it. He's mine and I don't want to let anyone get in the way of that, ever!" _

She tried to maintain her anger but it was a losing battle. Her thoughts turned to sad ones. She remembered the first time they had held hands, the first time they kissed. She remembered how he always made her feel, whether it was happy, angry, or sad. She felt her eyes sting as the thought of him seriously injured or worse flashed through her mind. The image of Betty kissing him burned a hole through the very fabric of her being and it made her heart ache.

She didn't notice but Eustace kept looking over at her. He wanted to speak to her, to say something, but words failed him. He couldn't get over how beautiful she really was. In the back of his mind he felt a pang of regret. He couldn't shake the desire to have this girl as his own. But he knew that was wrong; she wasn't from his time. What made matters worse is she loved another, this Neutron.

He thought he heard a sniffle come from her. He strained his ears to listen in. The limo was loud from all the excitement coming from Libby, Carl, and Sheen and it was hard to be sure."_How selfish can I be?" _he asked himself. "_Here I sit and think of my wants and desires while she fears for her close friend and…well boyfriend."_

"Cindy." He finally said. "Yes Eustace." She replied as she turned to face him. Her eyes gave away the fact that she had been holding back her tears.

"Are you okay Cynthia?" he asked.

"I-I'm fine. Please call me Cindy. It creeps me out when you call me Cynthia, too much like the other Eustace I know, and he only does it to mock me." She said.

"Alright than, Cindy it is. Anyhow Cindy, don't worry about your friend Jimmy. I'm sure he will be fine. He sounds like a very resourceful chap." He replied.

"I know he can usually take care of himself. But I can't help but worry about him. This thing that has him is a conglomerate of all the hate and malice that I feel toward the real girl she is based on. She is a pure nightmare made real. I mean at least in the dream world she was limited by certain heroic notions that we live within our own minds; you know where the good guy always wins? But in the real world….." she trailed off so Eustace finished the sentence for her. "The bad guy can win." She nodded in response.

"I'm sure we will be victorious Cindy. This Jimmy is lucky to have so many good friends that he can count on to come to his aid. If we all work together as a team I'm sure we will win the day." He said.

She hugged him tightly and said, "Thank you, Eustace. I'm glad you're on our side."

"What are friends for?" he replied.

The limo arrived at the school a few moments later. Every one hurried out and made their way carefully back into the underground facility where they were greeted by the red glowing hologram of Jimmy Neutron.

"Welcome back guys. I see you have a fifth member. That will be perfect considering that there are five mechs after all. I trust you have found the keys?" the hologram asked.

"Yes Jimmy, we found the keys." Cindy replied.

"I've been monitoring activities on the island, and I must warn you guys that the mechs aren't rated for the task I fear you have a head of you. My master had made them to be used specifically for close range combat against the Yolkians. But my sensors indicate that the population of the island is a mix of giant snakes, spiders, gargoyle like creatures, well actually let me bring it up on the monitor."

The monitors flickered on and the group gasped in astonishment. They could see the ground surrounding the pyramid. It was filled with a massive army of snake like men. They wore jet packs and carried laser spears. There must have been ten thousand of them. The base of the pyramid had two of the Jimmy hulks standing guard and t-rexes roamed through the outskirts of the parameter. The monitors changed images as it switched to different camera angles around the area. One showed the sky. The gargoyle creatures were circling around a single red colored dragon as it passed by. The image changed again revealing that there was an army of mimes and it made Cindy shiver. Libby knew of her best friend's fear of mimes, and put her arm around her.

"The mechs wouldn't be much use against such forces I'm afraid." Jimmy's hologram said.

"There has to be a way." Eustace said.

"My master had worked on a better design. But he lacked the financial means to build it. Based on my analysis it would have been more than equipped to handle this event. It seems he was a few billion dollars shy of realistically completing the project." Jimmy said.

"I have an idea. I will invest in Neutron's work." Eustace said.

"That would be great but it would still take months to build and time is something you don't really have." Jimmy said.

"No at this current time I don't, but if I make it home I can set up a trust fund to be put into place for Neutron to use on this project." He replied.

The room shimmered and the lights became brighter in response. Libby shouted "Look!" The Neutron logo on the wall shimmered and changed into a new design that was red and blue with a golden cross with a crown at its head.

"What does that symbol mean?" Carl asked.

The hologram shimmered for a moment and became more solid and lost its red color. For a moment it looked like the real Jimmy was standing before them. "It's amazing what a little money helps bring about. Anyhow to answer your question Carl, that symbol represents an alliance between the Stryche family and the Neutron family. The mechs have been upgraded to fit the situation. I want to point out that Jimmy had debated on making each mech to fit the individual user, but no offense to Carl but it would not have worked if there was a lama in the group."

Carl's eyes lit up for a moment but disappoint made him frown. "I wanted to have a lama." He said sadly.

Cindy hugged him gently and said "I know you did Carl. I know you did."

"Anyhow he decided to go with a uniform approach. He wanted cohesion in the group and for you to have a sense of Pride" So he chose to make the mechs have the form of five colored lions. They are designed to be user friendly but you will have to watch a tutorial before you use them. It would have been better for you to have gotten practice before going into battle but considering that time is of the essence I suppose that the best practice is field experience."

The tutorial was over before they knew it and they stood in the chamber with the pods that would take them to their respective mechs. Each member wore a colored uniform with matching motorcycle style helmet. Cindy wore pink; Libby wore green, Sheen black, Eustace red; and Carl wore yellow.

"How do I look?" asked Cindy.

Eustace smiled and placed his hands together over his heart. "Like a princess."

She grinned and replied "Smart ass."

"Anyhow when you two are done joking around maybe we can get to work?" Libby said.

"You're right. Let's roll. Okay now remember once the mechs are online, Carl and Sheen are going to head out to look for Archimedes and Valerie. The rest of us will head to the island, right?" said Cindy.

The group replied, "Right!"

They each grabbed a key from the collection and climbed into a pod.

"Hey guys if the pods bring us to a colored lion shouldn't we be getting into the colored lion that matches our uniform?" Carl asked.

"There isn't time to worry about such things Carl! I'm sure they are all fine. Just get going will you?" Cindy replied anxiously, failing to conceal her annoyance.

"Cindy is right Carl. We can worry about fashion at another time, and that says a lot coming from me." Libby added.

"Yeah Carl, it will be much more fun if we leave it to random chance to see what lion we get." Sheen added to backup his woman.

Cindy noted that the keys had been reshaped from the time shift as well, and now were circular and had the same symbol etched into them as they had seen on the wall. She made a final check to make sure her headset was working. She could hear Carl and Sheen arguing over the existence of the potty fairy; it made her smile. She checked to make sure her pearl was secured on the necklace around her neck. Once she was satisfied that it was safe she placed the key into the lock. The control panel lit up and the lid closed sealing her in. The world seemed to lurch as her pod rocketed off down a long tunnel.

To be continued….


	29. Chapter 29

**The awakening:**

Cindy felt her stomach lurch as her pod raced along the tube. She felt the excitement building within her as the pod slowed down and stopped. She glanced quickly over head as the glass dome opened. She could see something, blue colored, descending from above; she felt her seat shudder as it attached itself to it, and she began to rise. Her seat came to rest in front of a new control panel; this one had a dark star like shape that she recognized from the tutorial.

Eustace spoke over the headset, "Insert keys now!" They all responded, "Keys ready!"

She took her key and inserted it into the hole in the panel below the star and as it clicked into place the star lit up in its different points and made beeping sounds; it reminded her of the game, Simon. She heard her lion roar as it came online.

She stared at the video screen as it activated. _"Huh I'm underwater. I guess that makes as sense as anything else. I mean how else would Jimmy hide all the lions if they are all as large as this one?" _She thought to herself.

She took a hold of the controls. The lion shot forward faster then she expected and she rammed into a nearby rocky formation. The lion shuddered from the impact and the view screen was clouded from the debris in the water, but other than that everything was ok. The gauges confirmed that the lion hadn't been damaged. "_This thing is tougher than I thought it would be," She thought to herself._

"The controls seem a little touchy, be careful until we get used to these things, guys." Eustace said over his headset.

Sheen answered, Yeah but this is cooler then cooler. My lion was covered in lava guys!"

Cindy pulled back on her controls and raced upward toward the surface of the water. Her lion landed and fell in stride with the other cats as they raced along the desert sand a few miles out of Retroville.

A quick assessment of the lions and the operators revealed that Cindy was in the blue lion, Carl was in the yellow lion, Eustace was in the black lion, Libby was in the green lion, and Sheen was in the red lion.

"Ok everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing. Carl and Sheen please don't waste any time finding the dragons. I'm sure we will need all the help we can get." Cindy said.

"You can count on us, Cindy! We won't let you down!" Carl and Sheen shouted in response.

The lions stayed in formation as they flew into the sky until they hit a cruising altitude of three thousand feet. It was then that the red and yellow lions veered off from the pride and headed toward the Andes Mountains and the blue, black, and green lions rocketed off toward the island.

The radios were long range, so the lions could stay in contact even over the vast distance that was separating them, so it was no surprise that Sheen would start flapping his gums and fill up the airwaves with his banter.

"Hey we should pick a name for our group. I would suggest, the Ultra-lords!" Sheen said.

"No way, Ultra-doofus! We have to choose something that is stylish and has flair!" Libby replied.

"Libby! You're my girlfriend! Don't call me a doofus!" Sheen protested.

"Sorry Sheen. Let's come up with a name we can all agree on. What do you think our group should be named Carl?" Libby said.

Carl said, "I want to name us the Lama Force."

"That's a stupid name Carl, but I do like the Force part of it. How about, The Ultra-lord Fighting Force, you guys?" Sheen offered.

"No way! But maybe if you drop the name Ultra-lord from it." Carl said.

"Hey, Eustace, what do you think?" Libby asked.

"I honestly haven't given it much thought. What about you, Cindy?"

"I haven't really thought about it myself." She replied.

"Are you ok Cindy? You don't look to good." Eustace asked.

"My head hurts and I'm kind of tired to be honest with you." She replied.

"You haven't slept much. I can see it in your eyes." Eustace said.

"I tried to, but I couldn't sleep. I'm just so worried about him." She replied.

"It's a long flight. Why don't you set the autopilot and try to rest. I'll personally wake you when we arrive."

"Ok, thanks a lot Eustace." She switched off the viewing monitor for privacy, set the auto pilot, dimmed the lights and reclined in her chair. She found the muffled roar of the engines to be strangely soothing and before she knew it she was sleeping soundly.

**Dream:**

Cindy found herself walking through the long corridor in the dream world as she had before. She found herself wondering how she had gotten here. She struggled to remember what she had been doing beforehand, but nothing came to mind. The sensation was eerily familiar.

The hallway had no doorways that she could see this time. The way she had come was now a solid brick wall, so she had no choice but to keep heading in one direction. At the end of the corridor she found a single open doorway that led her into a dark house.

She had been in this house before but it seemed different this time. She was in Jimmy's living room. She saw the pictures of his family over the fireplace. She could smell the carbon resin from the extinguished logs.

She crossed the living room and turned suddenly toward the window in response to a screeching on the windowpane. Her heart raced in her chest from fear. She felt angry at herself when she saw it was just a tree branch blowing in the stormy wind outside. Lightning flashed, followed by the rumble of thunder.

She stepped back as the fireplace suddenly flared to live. The light filled the room and she stepped back from the rush of heat. She heard sounds coming from the direction of the kitchen. It sounded like footsteps, running, a child's giggling, followed by a door slam, which made her jump.

"Hey!" She shouted, "Is anyone there?" She heard more giggling in random directions.

By now her arms were covered in goose bumps. But she refused to let her fear conquer her. She continued exploring her surroundings when somewhere upstairs she could hear music start to play. She turned toward the source and made her way toward the stairwell. She looked up the stairs but it was too dark to see much. She felt for the light switch that she knew should be at the base of the stairs, but when she flipped the switch nothing happened. She took a deep breath and made her way slowly up.

It may have been the creek of the stairs combined with her own paranoia but she got the sensation that something was right behind her on the stairs. She froze in place and strained to listen for the littlest sound to confirm her suspicion. The fear was overpowering but somehow she found the strength to force herself to slowly turn around and look. She screamed.

The house echoed with the sound of Cindy's screaming…

To be continued….


	30. Chapter 30

**Jet Fusion:**

Jet made his way carefully through the dense underbrush. The going was difficult but he kept at it. The sun was blotted out by the massive trees, so despite the tropical heat, Jet actually found it to be chilly. He reached his crate quicker than he had expected. He felt some relief. He wasn't as far off course as he had feared.

He unsheathed his knife and sliced through the straps around the case and unlatched the case. Within he found an arsenal of weaponry to pick from. He wrapped his hands around a 50 caliber sniper rifle proudly and held it up. It was lighter than models he had used in the past, since this one had a synthetic polymer composite construction. The barrel had been blued to subdue it and was threaded to accommodate a silencer. He twisted it lovingly into place until he heard the click that meant it was secure.

He slid knives and throwing spikes in concealable sheaths that were strapped to random parts of his body, reloaded the magazines for his Mp5k, and slipped the sniper rifle's sling so it hung across his chest, securing the rifle on his back. His preparations were sadly interrupted by the sound of a animal snorting in the brush nearby.

He swung his weapon at the ready and crept low. He caught an acrid smell of carrion on the air. He knew it was a meat eater nearby. He stepped carefully, keeping his eyes glued to the nearby tree line. He felt his foot step in something soft. He glanced down and felt disgust at what he saw, animal spoor. He could see bone fragments embedded. It was definitely a carnivore. He flipped the safety off of his weapon and crept closer to the nearest tree.

He glanced left and right but couldn't see the source of the snort he had heard. He held his breath and strained his ears, willing his senses to pick up more information than they were. A bush shook nearby. That was when he saw it. He knew what it was easy enough having seen it before in the movie Jurassic Park. It was a Velociraptor and it was watching him. His mind reeled in shock. This thing couldn't be real, but then again the gargoyles shouldn't have been real either.

"_I'll right Jet. What do we know about this creature? In the movie they hunted in packs, so this thing is most likely not alone." _He thought to himself. He glanced around at the surrounding trees and shrubbery. If there were others here than they were camouflaged really well. He decided it was best to get out of his location in a hurry. He reached into his utility belt and slowly removed a smoke pellet and a grappling hook launcher with his left hand. He kept his motions really slow. He took his eyes off the location of the raptor only for the moment it took to aim the launcher. It let out a soft whoosh as the spike rocketed off into the air striking a thick branch high up in the air.

The air filled with screeches. Jet slammed the smoke pellet at the ground. The air filled with grayish black smoke hiding him from the angry raptors' view. The launcher had an automatic reel that activated and Jet felt his body lurch as the line pulled tight lifting him off the ground. He caught the movement of several shapes circling through the smoke below him. He figured if each dark shape was a raptor then there were six of them. It took a few minutes for the smoke to clear, but when it did he saw that he had been correct. There were six raptors below him, and they were staring up at him. _"Great they can see me," he thought to himself, "Well hopefully the books and movies aren't entirely correct about how intelligent they are."_

He felt his heart drop in his chest as the raptor closest to the tree dug in its razor sharp claws, and began to climb toward him followed by the others.

**Eustace:**

Eustace fidgeted in his seat. It's not that he didn't find Carl and Sheen's conversation interesting. It's just that his mind kept drifting to the sleeping girl in her blue lion. He knew it was wrong for him to have any feelings for her that weren't out of friendship, but he couldn't help it. "_I didn't ask for any of this. Wasn't I entitled to like who I liked? Where is it written that she and I couldn't end up together?" _He thought to himself. It made his heart ache in a way that he never felt before to know that he could never ask her to be his girlfriend. He felt robbed inside to know that her heart couldn't ever truly belong to him. He wanted to speak to her. He wanted to throw himself at her feet and confess his undying love. But these feelings weren't supposed to be his. This wasn't right.

He glanced that the viewing monitor for Cindy's lion. It was still turned off. He knew that she was sleeping, and not only deserved her rest, but also needed it. She was most certainly the key to winning the day. He wasn't sure how he knew but he sensed that she had the power to vanquish the monster they would face. He decided it was best if he tried to keep his head focused on the mission, but the jealousy was tearing him apart from the inside.

**Dream continued:**

Cindy turned to face the thing she felt on the steps behind her. The spectral apparition behind her glowed softly, but its features were grotesque and inhuman. The face was deformed and partially skeletal and flesh seemed to hang in chunks off its skeletal form. It opened its mouth that seemed to grow wider than should have been possible and it roared at her. She screamed as she felt flat on the step behind her. It made click and clack sounds, as the thing scuttled toward Cindy on spider like boney legs that were coming out of its severed lower half.

She crawled backwards as fast as she could. It was coming too fast for her to stop, even for the moment it would take for her to get to her feet. It swung sharp claw like bony fingers at her again and again. Each time she felt the air move from the closeness of the swipes. She hit the top stair and threw herself into a backward summersault. The momentum carried her backward and upward as she sprang up on her feet. She struck at the apparition with a round house kick. Her leg struck three of the bony spider like legs sweeping them out from under her attacker. As it collapsed it flailed in anger, striking out in every direction. Three of the claws on its right hand cut Cindy's arm. She ignored the flash of hot pain and stomped on its bony misshapen head until it stopped writing and was still.

A doorway at the end of the hall opened filling the dark hallway with light. The music grew louder, the room clearly being the source. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and entered the room.

It was Jimmy's bedroom. She had been in here often enough by now, having worked on one project or another. The room seemed exactly as she remembered it. It made her heart ache a little being in here. She sat on the bed and sniffed his pillow. Every detail of the room seemed perfect. Even the pillow smelled like him.

"I know this is only a dream, but somehow I feel like you're here with me." Cindy said out loud.

"I am with you Cindy." A voice that sounded like Jimmy replied.

Cindy looked up from the pillow she was hugging. Jimmy was standing there as perfectly as she remembered him.

"You're not real. You're just a figment of my imagination." She said sadly as she closed her eyes. She felt his fingers touch her cheek as he had done many times. She opened her eyes and felt her breath catch in her throat as she saw his sapphire eyes staring back into hers.

"I'm real Cindy. I don't know how I got here but I'm here all the same." Jimmy told her. The look in his eyes seemed to be imploring her to believe him.

"No, that's not possible. I'm only dreaming." Her words weren't very adamant. "But how do I know you're not just a dream induced manifestation of what I want to be true?"

"I think we're both astral projecting, Cindy." He said.

"That does sound familiar, but remind me what that is again." She replied.

"Well astral projection is an out of body experience. The theory is that we all have a spiritual body that resides within our physical one. Sometimes for varying reasons the spiritual or astral body leaves the body. Sometimes it can happen when two people are separated and desperately want to see each other." He said.

"Ok let's say for a minute that I believe you and that this IS an astral How do you explain this house and that thing that attacked me on the stairs?" she asked.

"Books on the paranormal claim that the astral world has many levels. The lowest being the physical world. The highest aren't really described, but they say that there are beings of light that block earth bound travelers from ascending any higher after a certain point. Some people claim that they are angels that guard the entrance to Heaven. Anyhow, people that claim to have astral projected claim that they often found themselves at a relative's house that they wished to see, so I'm pretty sure that this is my actual house. My guess is you came here because of your desire to see me. As for that creature, the books claim that there are earth bound 'spirits' that are jealous of travelers because we are still living beings and they are not. But all the books claim we are stronger than them and can shrug them off if they attack us by ascending to high plains in the astral world."

What happens now?" She asked.

"You'll wake up but before you do I must tell you a few things. I don't have control over my body." He told her.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I don't have to explain. Please take my word for it. You have to free me from the hold Betty has over me. Please don't give up on me Cindy, no matter what I may say or do on the island." He took her hand and continued, "Just know that I love you."

Her cheeks flushed in response and she forced herself to stare in his gorgeous eyes as she replied, "I love you to Jimmy and always have."

He kissed her once. His lips felt warm against hers and he pulled away leaving her lips tingling. The room began to fade around her and she felt strange for a moment as if she was in two places at once. On one hand she felt like she was in the room but on the other hand she could feel the chair where her body lay within the blue lion. "I'm waking up aren't I?" She asked Jimmy.

"Yes, before you go I have one more thing to tell you. The dream injector is still active. You probably know that by now. It can alter reality. Betty desires to gain full control over the device, so she can reshape reality and make herself a god. She will do anything she can to get what she wants. She is more than she seems. Don't under estimate her abilities." he said,

"How can I defeat her if she's as powerful as that sounds?" she asked.

"You're mind is still connected to the dream injector." His words faded in and out as she slightly regained consciousness. "Quick take this! Its made out of a piece of the metal that we got out of the dream world. It can be reshaped. You will know how to use it when you most need it!. She woke up but the last thing that she heard was "you have the power!"

She opened her arms and sat up in her chair. She glanced at the sensors for her lion and saw that she still hadn't reached her destination yet, and wouldn't for at least another hour. She turned a dial and the lights within the cockpit grew brighter. Cindy noticed a pain in her arm that made her wince when she stretched. She glanced down and saw three shallow slashes on her forearm. She held her arm close and stared at the cuts. The cuts were in the same spot as the ones in her dream. She considered the possibly that she couldn't have cut herself by tossing in her sleep, but there was nothing sharp on her chair or uniform that would have cut her.

"Maybe it was real after..." She stopped herself mid-sentence. She noticed a metallic object glinting in the light. She picked it up and saw that it was the sword that Jimmy had handed her in the dream. She heard a squeaking noise behind her and spun holding up the sword in a fighting stance. It was as if someone was wiping there finger on the screen of the monitor closest to her. She watched as words appeared. she wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen the words form herself. The words said, "You have the power, Cindy. Love Jimmy."

To be continued….


	31. Chapter 31

**At the Neutron house:**

The parents argued among themselves in the Neutron living room.

"What are we going to do to find our babies?" Mrs. Wheezer asked in an alarmed voice.

"This is your entire fault Neutron!" Mr. Wheezer yelled as he jabbed his finger into Mr. Neutron's chest.

"Now wait a minute, Wheezer. This is not anyone's fault." Shouted back Mr. Neutron as he swiped Mr. Wheezer's hand to the side. " My son is missing just like the rest of the kids are!."

Mr. Estevez stepped between them forcibly pushing them apart and said, "Please gentlemen. This is not going to help us find our children. We need to focus and not quibble among ourselves. "

"Mr. Estevez is right. I know everyone is worried about our kids but I suppose no news is good news. If any of them were hurt I'm certain we would have been contacted by now. When is the last time anyone actually heard from any of the kids?" Mrs. Folfax asked.

"Cindy stopped home several hours ago. She ran in and out. I didn't have time to stop her but she was definitely in a rush. She grabbed some small box, and was back out the door. Judy, I'm sure your son must be ok. I'm sure you noticed how taken our kids are with each other. If Jimmy was injured I'm certain Cindy would have told us. The only explanation is that the kids are off doing something that they feel doesn't require our help." Mrs. Vortex said.

"But they're only children!" wailed Mrs. Wheezer.

"Children that have fought monsters, traveled to other dimensions and planets, and saved this town countless times." Mrs. Folfax added.

Mrs. Neutron led the parents into the kitchen where Goddard lay on the dining table. He was plugged into the wall and the battery readout read full. She turned to the group and said, "We found, Goddard, here on the table. We know at least one of the kids brought him in here and plugged him in. Goddard has a cybernetic memory. If we turn him back on we can play back the events that led up to his deactivation."

She unplugged the cord from the wall and flipped a small switch that was hidden under a metal panel on Goddard's side. The glass dome on Goddard's head flickered a few times as its cybernetic brain fired to life. He sat up and initiated his self repair procedures. His body became magnetized and forks, knives, and the toaster flew across the room into Goddard's open mouth. He swallowed accompanied by an exaggerated sound effect. The metal absorbed and the parents watched wide eyed as the damaged parts of the dog's body regenerated.

Goddard got to his feet with his tail wagging, and barked happily. He scanned the room and detected all the adults staring at him.

"Hello, Goddard. Can you play back everything that occurred from the point of the lab being destroyed and your deactivation?" Judy said.

Goddard nodded and barked once before flipping on his projector. The adults watched in horror as they watched the battle play out between Jimmy and the creature that resembled Betty Quinlan.

"Isn't that one of the kids that goes to Jimmy's school?" Judy asked.

"Not at less Jimmy's classmate can grow tentacles and change shapes, Sugar bonnet." Hugh replied.

When the video ended the room filled with silence for almost a full minute until Judy finally began to cry. "That horrible creature has my Jimmy." Judy wailed.

"That would explain why Cindy was in such a rush. She must know where Jimmy is being held and went after him." Hugh said while addressing Mrs. Vortex.

"Why wouldn't they ask for our help?" Mr. Vortex asked finally speaking up.

"Have the kids ever asked for our help on any of the troubles they've been trough in the last few years?" Mrs. Vortex relied.

"Well, no I suppose not honey." Mr. Vortex replied.

"Goddard, where is Jimmy being held and can you locate the children?" Mrs. Vortex asked.

Goddard barked once and the projector turned on again. This time it showed a map of the world and on it five green blips and one red blip. The blips were labeled and the image kept updating tracking the movement. The parents saw that 2 of the blips labeled Carl and Sheen were off in the mountains and had come to a stop. The other three labeled Cindy, Libby, and Eustace were heading toward the red blip on the map labeled Jimmy.

"Goddard can you link up to a satellite and get us a good look at the location Jimmy is at?" Judy asked.

The image changed revealing the layout of the island. The image zoomed in on the main pyramid and the surrounding perimeter. They could see a large army of armor wearing serpent men as they stood guard.

"That place is a fortress. Even if we could make it to that location, how could we get in passed the guards?" Mr. Estevez asked.

"Well I have my private pilot's license. We could charter a plane and I could fly us out to the island easy enough." Mr. Vortex said.

"That takes care of getting to the island but what help could we be once we reach there?" Mr. Estevez asked.

"Well do you guys remember a few months ago when Jimmy gave my family super powers?" Mr. Wheezer asked.

"Yeah, you guys climbed Mt. Unstable and got stuck at the top when they wore off." Hugh said.

"Well I actually still have a bottle of the pills Jimmy had made. If we wait until we get near the island and take the pills we should be able to use the resulting super powers to get in there and help our babies out." Mr. Wheezer said.

"I'm in." Mr. Estevez said.

"I'm in as well. Mr. Neutron said as well, followed by the rest of the parents.

"You can count us in too." Zix said as he entered the room followed by Tee and Travoltron. "Sorry We're late."

"Wow I wasn't expecting you guys to show up. Judy said she called everyone, but I didn't think she meant everyone." Hugh said.

"Jimmy saved our bacon when we were like in the prehistoric age. We have to help him." Travoltron said.

"Yeah fool! We can't stand around while our little buddy Jimmy is in trouble! That wouldn't be right!" Tee added.

"Tee and Travoltron are right. Jimmy is our friend and if he is in trouble than we're in this for the long haul. You can skip out on renting a plane. Our space shift can hold you all. Grab some of those miracle pills and any other weapons you might have and let's get going." Zix said.

It took about a half an hour to round up the necessary supplies, but the group was finally airborne and headed off in the direction of the island. Goddard sat in the copilot seat and barked happily as he watched the view as the ship flew over Retroville.

**Jet Fusion:**

Jet kept his eyes on the lead raptor as it began climbing the tree toward him. He was still dangling from the zip-line at the moment. "I have to get out of here." He whispered to himself. The raptor was drooling in anticipation as it came closer. Jet aimed his weapon at its head and the raptor stopped climbing. It stared at the mp5k and growled in frustration. "My god, you recognize this as a weapon, don't you?"

The tree shook once and the raptor's eyes turned to face the surrounding jungle. The tree shook again. The raptors began to make barking like sounds back and forth as they looked around as if they were alarmed by something. The tree shook again. The raptor descended to the ground rapidly and rejoined the rest of its herd as they seemed to communicate back and forth. That was when Jet noticed the ripples in the pool of water at the base of the tree that formed every time the tree shook.

"Seismic vibrations, I'm fairly alarmed." He said remembering the Jeff Goldblum line from Jurassic Park the movie. The hairs stood on the back of his neck as the raptors dashed off into the jungle out of sight.

"I feel like a worm on a hook. I'm probably at a good biting height at the moment." Jet lowered himself back to the ground before disengaging his connection to the zip-line. He could see the trees shake in the distance and hear the cries of the birds as they took off into the air. Whatever was coming was getting close.

He ducked low and made his way into the tree line keeping an eye out for other possible dangers. He felt pretty confident that the Raptors had fled to a distant part of the jungle, but that didn't mean they wouldn't return. He continued on until something made him stop in his tracks. The wind had changed directions and with it came the smell of death. He couldn't believe how close he got to the dead animal before smelling it, but he was clearly standing in front of a dead Edmontosaurus. It was easy to identify because of its duck like bill. Jet knew that it had lived during the Cretaceous Period based on fossils that had been found dating back 77.3 million years ago. The going theory was that they were most likely fed on by T-rexes.

"Terrific, this thing will attract every scavenger in the area. " Jet said to himself.

The trees echoed with a trumpeting roar. His blood ran cold from hearing the all too familiar sound. It was identical to the sound in the movie. It was unmistakably the roar of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

"It must have caught the scent of the prey. I better put some distance between the corpse and myself" he said.

He decided it was in his best interest if he wasn't here when it arrived. He checked his bearings and got a tight grip on his weapon and continued on his course, which was thankfully in a different direction of the Rex.

To be continued…..


	32. Chapter 32

**Cindy:**

Cindy stared at the words on the monitor. She whispered, "I have the power? That's kind of cryptic."

She held up the sword and examined it. It had a double edged blade. She looked down at the hand guard and saw that it was fairly broad with two crescent moon shaped holes on each side, and a jewel in the center of the hand guard. She had seen the design before but couldn't quite place where she had seen it. "Just like Neutron to give me something like this but not bother to tell me how to use it." She said slightly annoyed.

The sword felt warm in her hand and hummed with energy. She felt a strange sensation as she held it. The sword felt familiar as if somehow she had always owned it, or perhaps better yet that she belonged to the sword. She ran one finger carefully across the edge; it was sharp.

Her eyes felt drawn to the crystal despite her effort to look away. A blurry image was slowly coming into focus. She looked closer with curiosity as Jimmy appeared. "Jimmy?"

The image of Jimmy within the crystal spoke back, "Yes Cindy it's me. Apparently I can still contact you through the power sword. That's something I wasn't counting on. If I wasn't in the circumstances that I'm in I would love to run some tests", He stopped when he saw the annoyed expression on her face.

"You said this sword can shape shift and that I have the power. How do I make it shape shift? What can the sword change into? And what do you mean I have the power?" Cindy asked one question rapidly after another.

"Slow down Cindy. The sword can change into various things such as a rope or a shield, or even a key due to the specific properties of the dream metal, but it can pretty much turn into anything of equal or smaller size, though smaller objects will have greater density to accommodate the same amount of matter in a smaller area. In other words, the object will still weigh as much as the original sword despite how small it maybe."

"That's cool. But how do I make it do these things?" She asked.

"Simply tell it verbally what to do. Try it now." Jimmy replied.

She held up the sword and said "Sword to shield." There was a flash of bright light and the sword became a large shield that still contained the crystal in the center. She admired it for a moment. It was pentagon shapes and covered her entire upper body. If she ducked low she could entirely hide behind it.

"Ok Neutron, this thing is pretty cool. I suppose I should make it inconspicuous." She held the shield away from herself and said, "Shield to bracelet." A thin, yet heavy bracelet appeared on her right wrist. She could still see Jimmy in the crystal in the center of it.

"I was able to conduct quite a few experiments on the dream metal before I was kidnapped. It can do things that real metal can't. The edge on the blade won't wear down, and the blade won't snap, so you can use it to pry like a crowbar if needed. The strangest part is the sharpness of the edge. It can be used to cut through anything you wish to cut, but it won't cut the user. "The sword can also be used to allow you to channel your full power." Jimmy said.

Cindy said, "What do you mean channel my full power? Spit it out Neutron."

"I tried to tell you before. You're still connected to the Dream Injector and as long as the conduit between reality and the dream world are open you can pretty much change reality. That is why Betty wants you to come to the Island. I'm the bait." Jimmy said with a solemn look.

"That's not possible Jimmy. If it was that simple I would have already wished you out of where you are." Cindy said. "Not to mention nothing I have been hoping for has happened."

"The day I connected you to the Dream Injector so you could create Valerie Lee, I placed an inhibitor over the Dream Injector, in the form of several dream metal objects.

It was meant to limit the amount of things that could get out of the dream world. I did it just in case something went wrong, to be more specific, in case you were consumed by the power the Dream Injector would give you." –Jimmy said.

"You didn't trust me?" Cindy asked. She felt really hurt and couldn't mask her pain.

"Sorry Cindy, but no one should have that much power. Call it an insurance policy if you want. Considering what's been happening I'm glad that I did it. Anyhow Betty is trying to break down the barrier between the worlds. My inhibitor has held her back so far, but she has gained considerable powers through her efforts. It's up to you to stop her from gaining full control." Jimmy said.

"If she even has partial control over reality won't she just blast me to smithereens?" Cindy asked.

"That's where the sword comes into play. The sword will allow you to bypass some of the security fields that I have put in place giving you increased strength, healing abilities, and damage resistance to not only physical damage but also some resistance to Betty's powers. You won't be completely invulnerable however, so make sure you block with the sword. "

"Ok I understand. So how do I use this added strength Jimmy?" she asked.

"There is a password that must be said while holding the sword to access it, but I can't tell you what it is through the crystal. " Jimmy said.

"What? Why not Jimmy?" –Cindy

"I warned you before that I'm not myself. My body is under one of Betty's reality altering spells. It's only when my body is resting that I can get out and speak with you in this manner. The drawback is that my body may retain what I tell you when I wake. I'm afraid that if I tell you what the password is that Betty will learn it as well. Don't worry though, Carl knows what it is. Unfortunately Cindy I'm out of time. My body is waking up and I have to go. Be careful."-Jimmy

The image of Jimmy vanished before Cindy could answer. Her thoughts were interrupted by a proximity alarm. She looked up and saw the island in the viewing screen.

"Cindy, are you awake?"-Eustace said over the radio.

Cindy flipped the switch on the monitor and Eustace's face appeared on the viewing screen.

"Yeah, I'm awake."-Cindy replied.

"Good because we've arrived and the natives are apparently ready to launch an attack. My sensors are picking up large energy weapons posed and ready to fire. Prepare to go on the defensive when we pass over the land."-Eustace said.

"Roger!"-Cindy shouted back as she strapped herself back into her pilot seat.

The sky erupted with flashes of laser fire. Cindy pushed hard on her on the controls and her lion swerved left and right as she dodged one blast after another.

"We have to take down those guns! Everyone target a turret and hit them with an Ion blast!" -Eustace commanded.

The turrets were silenced in a fiery explosion as the ion energy spheres found their targets."Is that it?" –Libby asked.

"I don't think so, Libby,"-Cindy replied slightly nervous, "The welcoming committee is on their way."

The sky filled with hundreds of serpent men with rocket packs, gargoyles, and dragons…

**Jet Fusion:**

Jet Fusion kept low and continued his trek though the jungle. The Bellowing roar of the Rex fell back in the distance. He took little comfort from it though; there could be countless other dangers.

He kept a steady pace until he came upon a clearing in the trees. He remained concealed in the brush as he looked out. He gasped at the view he saw before him. The clearing revealed a large valley, which covered a large area stretching several miles, broken up by the surrounding mountains. In the center of the valley was a large lake. The shore was lined with dozens of Hadrosaurs, and a few Brachiosaurs that were feeding off the large fern like trees that scattered the landscape.

It reminded him of the scene from Jurassic Park the movie when the group had first stopped and looked at the lake. Jet had often wondered why the group hadn't driven down to the lake to get a closer look.

He checked his canteens. His water supply was getting low, so he made his way cautiously toward the water keeping his eyes out for predators. _"Well those plant eating dinosaurs would be freaking out if a meat eater was nearby. It's a pretty safe bet that the coast is clear."-_Jet thought to himself.

It took over an hour to reach the water. Jet kept downwind of the dinosaurs as he refilled his canteen. _"They might be herbivores, but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous." _–Jet thought to himself.

The day was relatively calm. The wind blew gently and the sun felt warm on the back of Jet's neck. The animals occasionally made calls back and forth to each other. That is until the battle started over head. The explosions spooked the beasts and the entire herd of Hadrosaurs stampeded creating a giant dust cloud in their wake. "Well at least the herd is heading in the direction I need to go. If there are any predators around they are more likely to take off to avoid that stampede."-Jet said to himself. Jet ducked low and ran after them.

**The Parents:**

The alien space craft arrived in the heat of the battle. "Looks like the kids are under fire."-Zix said.

"We have to help our babies! What can this thing do?"-Mrs. Wheezer wailed.

"Calm down lady. We got this." –Travoltron said.

"If you want to help, try raising the kids on the radio."-Zix said.

Mrs. Wheezer threw herself at the radio and began speaking on each frequency until they got a response.

"Hello? I can hear you. Who is this?"-Came the voice over the radio.

"This is Carl's mother Mrs. Wheezer. I'm speaking to you from within Zix's space craft."-Mrs. Wheezer said.

"Hey why does it have to be like, Zix's spacecraft?"-Travoltron asked.

"Yeah fool! This is our space craft too!" Tee said angrily.

Mrs. Wheezer put her finger to her lips and shushed them angrily. The whole crew went silent.

"Hello Mrs. Wheezer. This is Eustace Alexander Stryche, pilot of the black lion. We would like to welcome you and thank you for the aid in this little battle we seem to have gotten ourselves into."-Eustace said as dignified as he could under the circumstances.

"Hey, Mrs. Wheezer, this is Cindy. You don't have to worry about Carl he isn't here."- Cindy said.

"Actually we are here Cindy. Hello mom. I hope you're not upset with me for getting into a battle."-Carl said as his yellow lion raced into view.

"Carl? You're back already?"-Cindy said in surprise.

"Yeah we're back guys. The dragons weren't hard to find."-Sheen said.

Cindy looked out her left side window and saw the two dragons flying along the left flank of the green lion.

"Hello Mrs. Wheezer. Don't worry I've been keeping an eye on Carl."- Sheen said.

"Thank you Sheen."-Mrs. Wheezer began to say as another turret opened fire. The ship lurched to the side in avoidance. "Whoa!" –Mrs. Wheezer said as she rocked hard to the left in her chair.

"No time to chat. We have a battle to win. - Zix shouted over his shoulder as he steered the ship into the fray and returned the laser fire with blasts of his own.

To be continued…..


	33. Chapter 33

**Jimmy and Betty:**

Betty entered the chamber where Jimmy slept. He began to stir as she approached. "How did it go Jimmy, did you give her the sword?"

"Yes," he said with a grin, "She fell for it as you predicted my love."

"Good, my minions have informed me that she landed her lion and entered the pyramid during the battle. She's on the lower floor as we speak. That girl really is determined to rescue you." Betty said with a slightly jealous tone in her voice.

Jimmy stepped forward in his muscular reptilian form and embraced her from behind. "Don't worry my love. My hologram projector and teleporter worked perfectly. She doesn't have the slightest clue that the sword is a trap." Jimmy whispered in her ear.

Betty turned to look him in the eyes. There was sadness in her eyes that Jimmy wasn't expecting. "Why do you look sad?" He asked her.

"She scares me, Jimmy. She can destroy me. If this plan fails she could destroy everything we're working toward." Betty replied.

"Don't worry, Betty. I already implanted the code word in Carl's mind. When Cindy tries to use the power of the sword she will be ours." He leaned in and kissed her passionately.

**Eustace, Libby, Sheen, and Carl:**

The group of friends raced after Cindy as she entered the pyramid. They entered the stone doorway and entered a torch lit corridor. Cindy was already out of sight.

"Cindy! Wait up!" Carl shouted as he gasped for breath at the end of the first corridor; it forked in three ways.

"Cindy, Can you hear me?" Eustace shouted into his wrist communicator. There was no response as he attempted to reach her several more times. "She must have her watch turned off." Sheen said exasperated.

"Oh no! She can't do this alone. She could get really hurt. We have to help her." Carl said. "But which way did she go?"

"I don't know, Carl, but you're right; we have to find her." Libby said anxiously.

"It will be better if we split up. Sheen, you and Libby go right. Carl, you and I will head left. If you find her, contact us with your communicator and we'll do the same for you." Eustace said.

"But who will check the middle corridor?" Sheen asked.

"I will." The kids jumped in surprise. They turned sharply to see, Jet Fusion approaching from the direction they had just come from.

"Wow look, Carl, its Jet Fusion." Sheen said.

"Hello, Mr. Jet Fusion, Are you here to help us save Jimmy?" Carl asked.

"As a matter of fact I am. You kids know how to use your weapons right?" he said eyeing the laser guns the kids held in their hands.

"Yeah these things can blow up a city block if you set them to full power. Not that we intend to use them on that setting, Right, Sheen?" Libby said as she glared at Sheen.

"Of course not Libby," he said as all eyes turned on him. "What? Don't you guys trust me?" The cold stares continued for a few moments until Sheen turned the dial on his weapon to a much lower setting, as he grumbled inaudibly to himself.

**Cindy:**

Cindy was caught up in her obsession to reach Jimmy, so despite her better judgment she didn't wait for her friends. This was between her and Betty anyhow.

She came upon a large set of double doors. Jimmy had told her that this was where she would find him. She paused outside the door for a moment to check her equipment. She removed a small packet from her pocket. It was marked with the correct label this time to be sure. She took out a can of bottle of, Purple Flurp, and poured the contents of the packet into the bottle. She placed the sealed bottle back into a holster on her utility belt. "Just a little bit of added security if things get out of hand." She thought to herself. She regretted that she couldn't just swig the bottle down now and bash her way to Jimmy. The contents would only last for a half an hour and she didn't want to waste them until she was absolutely sure she would need them. "Besides," she thought to herself "I have the sword of power."

She stepped into the chamber with her sword already drawn and approached a cloaked figure in the center of room. The room had large columns that supported the stone ceiling. There were many torches along the walls, but there were still many shadows that could be hiding enemies. She held the sword with two hands in front of her in a defensive stance and spoke to the figure, "Who are you and where is my friend Jimmy?" She demanded.

The shadowy cloaked figure removed the hood. It was here that she first laid eyes on the being that she had been seeking. Betty grinned back at her with a beautiful smile. "Hello, Cindy, long time, no see."

"What have you done with Jimmy?" Cindy demanded again.

Betty grinned as she looked over the sword that Cindy was holding. "Oh he's here alright. You can reach him by using the elevating platform I'm standing on. All you have to do is get by me."

Betty said sweetly as she pulled a Kris style blade from a scabbard under the cloak. The sword had a serpent skull shaped hand guard. "That's a very nice sword you're holding, Cindy, but can you use it?"

"Actually I spent the last several months working on sword use in my martial arts routine." Cindy said fiercely. "Surrender and I'll spare your life long enough to put you back where you belong as a figment of my imagination!"

"Unlikely, Cindy, I have every skill you have and more. The only one that is going anywhere is you." Betty retorted.

Cindy grew tired of the goading, and took the offensive, and lunged forward. The chamber echoed with the beautiful clang of sword blades.

The fight went on for several minutes as sparks flew from the sheer impact of blade on blade. The enchanted blades resisted chipping and breakage that normal swords would suffer. Cindy and Betty alternated who was on the offensive and who was on the defensive, as they danced around each other parrying blades.

Cindy thought she saw and opening in Betty's defense, stepping in close, she swung over head toward Betty's soft neck, but Betty raised her blade and blocked in the nick of time. The swords stuck together with a flash of sparks. The fight for dominance continued, as the two warriors struggled to push their blade into the other.

Betty felt the fatigue in her arms as she struggled to keep her sword blade from being pushed into her. She had wanted to win this fairly, but she desperate times called for desperate measures. She concentrated and purple energy erupted out of eyes hitting Cindy in the abdomen. The force sent Cindy hurtling head over heels several feet across the room. She landed in flat on her back, heaving for air. Her diaphragm shuttered, as if she had been hit in the stomach by, Rocky Balboa.

Betty laughed as she walked in a silky manner toward her fallen foe. Cindy curled up in the fetal position clutching her stomach. Her vision grew blotchy, as her brain desperately screamed for air. She could see the shadowy figure approaching her.

Betty stood next to Cindy and looked down at her. Some of Cindy's blonde hair had come loose from her hair tie. Betty reached down and took a handful of the hair and yanked hard, pulling Cindy's head backward. Cindy grunted from the pain forgetting about the pain in her stomach for a moment. Betty let her hair go once she was flat on her back, but quickly followed through with a punch right in Cindy's solar plexus, which caused the girl to curl up in the fetal position again.

"Don't worry, Cindy, I'm not going to kill you yet. I need you alive, at least for now." Betty said as she stood over Cindy. _"So you can be properly sacrificed." _ Betty thought to herself.

Cindy struck from her fetal position, kicking Betty's legs out from under her. Betty hit the ground with a thud leaving her slightly dazed.

Cindy staggered to her feet still hunched over and clutching her sore stomach. "I wanted to do this without super powers, Betty, but you leave me no choice." She said hoarsely. Her mind raced over what Carl had told her. She felt stupid having to say these particular words. She couldn't allow herself to feel awkward though. She held aloft the sword and shouted "Jimmy Neutron is a smarter, nicer, all around better person than I am."

"WHAT! Those aren't the words you were supposed to say!" shouted Betty as lightning struck Cindy energizing her with power.

The light was blinding and Betty had to turn and shield her eyes. When the light faded away she discovered her enemy adorned a different outfit. She was no longer in her pink uniform, but instead of being imprisoned, she was wearing Jimmy's dream armor.

"Are you disappointed, Betty? After discussing the matter with Carl I had induced that the sword was a trick. Your Jimmy imposter was good to be sure, but no one knows that kid better than I do, and that wasn't him. The first clue was Jimmy's knowledge about Astral Projection. Jimmy doesn't believe in the supernatural and always concludes that there is a rational scientific explanation. He wouldn't have wasted his time researching such things."

"The kid is an insufferable know-it-all. He very well could have researched it." Betty said defiantly.

"True enough, but Carl is so forgetful about everything, yet somehow he knew exactly what to say. That was very suspicious, as if he had been programmed with the information" Cindy added.

"The real Jimmy could have done that himself, Cindy," Betty replied.

"You're right but Jimmy and I had setup password phrases to say to each other just in case something like this happened, and your fake clearly wasn't caught up on current events." Cindy said with a smirk.

"You have got to be kidding me?" Betty grumbled to herself.

"Enough talk! Cindy said, as her rocket boots activated with a burst of fire. Cindy hovered a foot off the ground.

Betty concentrated a moment, and her skin turned reptilian and she doubled in size. She grinned exposing her long fangs that dripped with poison. She lunged forward at Cindy. She caught Cindy by the shoulders and struck with her fangs. Betty shrieked in rage as the fangs deflected off the armor. Cindy activated one of the suit's defenses. Betty screamed and writhed in pain as electricity arched all about.

Cindy's reinforced fist was aided by the muscle amplifiers in the suit, as Cindy swung full force into Betty's face casting her across the room. The room shuddered, as Betty collided with the wall breaking several breaks. Betty retaliated with another energy blast from her serpent eyes. Cindy saw this one coming in time and said, "Sword to shield!" She felt the shield shutter in her hands, as the energy struck. She braced herself against the percussive force, as her feet slid along the ground.

To be continued….


	34. Chapter 34

**Eustace and Sheen:**

The pyramid shuttered from small seismic vibrations from within. The dust poured down from the ceiling in spurts each time the walls shook. "What's the deal with the walls?" Carl asked.

"I'm not sure, Carl. Whatever it is I hope Cindy isn't involved." Eustace replied.

"Me either, Cindy might be tough, but this monster is really dangerous. It would be really awful if something bad happened to her, and my best friend, Jimmy really likes her. He would be really upset if she got hurt." Carl said excitedly as he used his inhaler.

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Carl." Eustace started to say, before Carl turned and placed his hand over Eustace's mouth. Eustace felt angry at first until his mind processed that there were voices coming from somewhere nearby, and that Carl was merely trying to protect him. "Shhhh, did you hear that?" Carl asked Eustace with silent words rather than a whisper, as he removed his hand away from Eustace's mouth.

Eustace looked wide eyed as he mouthed the reply "Yes" as he nodded his head. He gestured for Carl to get behind him, as he tip toed toward the turn. Eustace motioned for Carl to stand still and not make a sound before dropping low to the ground. He slowly crawled forward on his hands until he was right at the turn. Lying as low to the ground as possible he quickly poked his head out so he could see.

It was two serpent men on guard duty. They hadn't seen Eustace and continued on with their discussion in guttural inhuman voices. Eustace listened in on what they were saying for a few minutes. It was hard to make out what they were saying, something about a blonde girl, a trap, and a sacrifice. Eustace decided he had heard enough. He checked his firearm and made sure it was on stun. The two serpent men dropped quietly to the ground.

"Come on, Carl, we have to hurry, "Eustace said as he scrambled to his feet. "Cindy is walking into a trap and they intend to sacrifice her."

The two boys ran down the corridor in the direction that they hoped would lead to Cindy. They ran into the rest of the group in a large room at the end of the next corridor.

"Guys, Cindy, is walking into a trap. She is to be killed, sacrificed!"-Carl shouted to the others.

The room shuddered a moment as the doorways vanished trapping the group inside.

"How do we get out of here?"-Libby asked. As if to answer, Libby, Rock began to break off the walls as if something was tunneling through it. The group screamed in fear as rocks collapsed from the ceiling and fire plumes blasted out of crevices formed in the walls.

"What's happening?"-Carl shouted.

"I don't know," shouted Jet Fusion, "Just stay in the middle of the room."

The interior of the room changed to solid metal walls that were scalding to the touch, as Sheen found out the hard way, when he pushed his hands against the walls, as the walls began to slide inward toward the group.

"Ahh that hurt!"-he shouted as he looked at his red palms.

"The walls are closing in on us! We'll be crushed"-Libby shouted in a panicked voice.

"Well it was nice knowing you guys."Sheen said.

"Don't give up. There must be some kind of button that can stop the walls! Feel around for it!"-Eustace shouted.

"We can't the walls are super hot, as if Ultra-lord hit them with one of his heat seeking infra-thought attacks."-Sheen reminded them.

As suddenly as they had started, the walls stopped moving only a few feet from the where the group huddled.

"It stopped!" Carl shouted in excitement.

"What happens now?"-Libby asked.

There was a loud clunk noise from within the walls and the floor dropped out from under the group. The room echoed with their screams as they fell into the red lit room below.

Fortunately no one was badly hurt from the fall. They surveyed their new surroundings as the trap door they had fallen through closed over head. The floor they now stood on was metal mesh and there was a winding stair case made out of the same material. Libby looked down through the spaces in the mesh in awe. The floor was a hundred feet below and it appeared to be a smelting room of some kind. The air was stuffy with the heat, and Carl's deodorant had worn off, not that anyone could tell over the smell of burned flesh, hair, and sulfur.

"This place doesn't look very welcoming does it?"-Jet Fusion said.

"Nope, but what choice do we have?"-Eustace asked.

"Let me go first kids."-Jet Fusion said. Everyone nodded in agreement as they gripped their weapons tightly and Jet started making his descent on the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs the group paused to look around. They could see large vats, on the floor, filled with molten liquid. There were large chains dangling from steel beams that crisscrossed above.

Libby peeked inside an old boiler as they passed it. The iron was cold to the touch. The layer of dust covering it was thick. It looked like it hadn't been used in years. As she turned to look away the boiler roared to life. The heat was intense and suffocating. Libby stepped back in surprise, and let out a yelp.

She could see human bones smoldering in the flames. Her eyes went wide at the sight. Sheen grabbed her, pulled her to him, and said, "Don't look. Let's keep moving, Libby."

"Sheen, will you do me a favor?" Libby asked, as she held him tightly.

"What's that, Libby?"-Sheen replied.

"Don't let me go." Libby replied.

She let out a stifled scream when she heard a loud squealing noise from within the shadows of the boiler, as if someone was scratching their nails on a chalkboard. The sound made everyone's skin crawl, as it repeated randomly several times, followed by a sinister laugh. Everyone looked around wildly, seeking the source of the laughter.

"Hello?"-Jet called out, "Who are you? Identify yourself!"

A large zombie like creature stepped out of the shadows. He clicked his long claws together. The creature bared its teeth menacingly before laughing in the same sinister manner.

Jet raised his firearm and took aim. "Stand down! I don't want to have to shoot you, but I will if I have to."-Jet said.

"That puny weapon won't work on me," the creature said as he approached slowly.

"We'll see about that."-Jet Fusion replied. The room echoed with the retort of the mp5k. A small hole formed in the middle of the creature's forehead. The creature grinned menacingly and toppled over the railing into one of the vats with a splash. Carl stepped back from the smoldering liquid that had sprayed on the floor around the vat.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?"-Jet said.

"Uh, I'm not so sure."-Libby said, as she pointed at the vat.

A large glowing arm reached out of the liquid and grasped onto the ledge of the vat. The rock smoldered where the hand grasped.

"Terrific, let's get moving shall we. I think we should try going through that door over there , and I mean right now!" Sheen shouted.

**Cindy:**

Even through her armor she could feel the scolding heat from the energy that came out of Betty's eyes.

Cindy clashed with Betty again and again. The room rumbled each time they bashed each other into the walls. Rocks tumbled from the ceiling and walls.

Betty became more and more infuriated that her energy attacks couldn't get through the armor that Cindy was wearing. The angrier she became the more snake-like she looked. Her fingers grew long talons and her body became a large snake tail that she coiled around Cindy. She scratched and clawed, raking long gouges into the armor. Cindy struggled as the armor's alarm system wailed within her helmet. "System error, System error repeated again and again, as Betty slashed deeper and deeper into the thick armor.

Cindy activated the electrical armor, it zapped Betty only enraging her and making her more savage. Betty began to tear the metal off in chunks revealing more and more of the pink jump suit underneath. Cindy struggled to push Betty away, but Betty's claws slashed shallow painful cuts in Cindy's arms. Betty balled up her clawed hand into a fist and slammed it into Cindy's unprotected stomach several times. Cindy felt all the air rush out of her and her body convulsed as her muscles clenched. She was held so tightly by the snake coils however that she couldn't hunch over. She gasped for air and felt bile come up in her mouth, which felt warm and sticky on her face within the helmet. The smell and taste was nauseating and Cindy almost hurled again from it.

Betty grasped onto Cindy's helmet and tore it off; she cast it to the side and snarled before lunging in with her poisonous fangs at Cindy's exposed neck. Cindy saw it coming and, grabbing a large rock, swung as hard as she could with her fist. It connected and sent Betty's head lurching to the side. Cindy knew she only had a few moments to get lose or she would either be bitten or crushed by the snake coils. She reached for her sword that she had dropped in the fray just managing to reach it. She held it tightly and a quick swing sliced off a portion of Betty's tail. Cindy was released as Betty writhed in pain along the ground.

Betty regenerated and returned to her human form a few moments later though, her eyes glowed red with an unwavering hatred that burned within. Red energy burst out of her eyes. It hit Cindy sending her backwards ten yards against the wall. Cindy struck hard and flopped to the ground with a groan.

Cindy got to her feet and looked down at her ruined armor and at the pieces of it that lay scattered along the ground. "So much for the armor. " She said to herself as she held up the sword in a defensive manner.

"Your armor is ruined, Cindy, why don't you just surrender?" Betty asked.

"Never! I would rather die!" Cindy shouted back.

"I could atomize you with my ring, Cindy, but I have a better idea." She said.

Betty knew she needed a better tactic if she was to capture Cindy alive. An idea popped in her head. She aimed the snake ring with the single pearl and channeled her energy through it. Cindy flipped sideways head over heels acrobatically avoiding the attack. The blast struck the wall with a bright explosion. "Stand still!" Betty shouted as she fired at Cindy again and again until she managed to finally hit Cindy despite her acrobatic antics.

Cindy temporarily was caught up within an energy field that prevented her from moving.

"Hah gotcha," Betty said. "I can't hurt you, or even move you, while you're in that bubble. I grow bored of this game. When you're free, come down the elevator shaft that is if you're not afraid."

Betty made her way onto the elevating platform and activated it. "Oh, one last thing thanks for the Purple Flurp." She said as she held up the plastic bottle, as she went down out of sight.

Cindy flopped to the ground a few minutes later. She had been in mid flip when the energy bubble had encased her. Her stomach still ached from earlier and hitting the ground knocked the wind out of her again. She took off the remains of her helmet and spit up a mouth full of bile. She looked down at where it lay on the ground. It had blood in it.

"Oww that sucked. It's probably a good thing I hadn't eaten anything in the last day or so." Cindy said to herself, as she tried to catch her breath. "Cindy!" She heard her friends calling out to her. She was struggling to her feet still clutching her sore stomach when they reached her.

"Are you all right?" everyone asked her in unison," Eustace and Carl stepped forward and both aided Cindy. Sit here Cindy." Eustace said, as they lead her to a broken column that was a convenient height for sitting.

"I'm not sure. My stomach hurts a lot. I think I'm going to throw up again."

Eustace reached over gently turned her face up toward his by her chin. Her lip was bleeding and there was a shallow cut over her right eye brow. He looked concerned as his eyes glanced back from the cuts on her arms to her bruised cut face. It made Cindy feel uneasy and she pulled away.

She removed the remains of the armor she wore. She unzipped her pink jump suit and lifted her tank top enough to see her stomach; It was slightly descended, and her skin had a nice yellow and black colored bruise over the location of her solar plexus. "Terrific. I really have to work on defending my stomach better." She said to herself.

"Cindy, that really doesn't look good. You could be really hurt. We need to get you to a doctor." Libby said very concerned.

"Libby is right kid, you've done everything you can do here. Let us handle it from here. Zix can lift you out of here and bring you to the hospital." Jet Fusion said.

"I can't leave now. Betty has Jimmy." Cindy responded angrily as she zipped up her pink jump suit. "I've already wasted enough time. If you want to help me than help me rescue Jimmy. But the only way I'm leaving here is with Jimmy." Cindy said.

"I can appreciate your determination kid, but Jimmy wouldn't want you to get yourself killed over him." Jet Fusion said.

"Jimmy has risked his life for me many times over. I owe him the same." Cindy replied.

"Fine, but at least let me use things from my first aid kit to patch up those cuts of yours."

She put her hand and winced from the cut over her eyebrow. "Ok patch me up quickly, so we can get going." Cindy replied.

"Just do us all a favor wont you kid? Stay close to us this time. Agreed?"-Jet Fusion said.

"Agreed" she grinned through blood stained teeth. She stood up and made her way to the elevator.

To be continued….


	35. Chapter 35

**The inner chamber:**

The elevating platform came to a halt. The group of friends stepped out cautiously into the corridor and slowly made their way down the hallway. The walls were lined with circular mirrors. They could see a door at the end of the hallway.

"This could be a trap. I would suggest everyone proceed single file and watch where you step."- Jet said.

"Lead on Jet, we're right behind you."-Eustace replied.

Carl kept pace right behind Sheen. The mirrors gave him the creeps. "How do we know these aren't two way mirrors like you see in the cop movies? Someone or something could be watching us right now."

"The kid's got a point."-Jet said, as he swung his weapon toward the nearest mirror. He was sure he caught some movement in it that wasn't from one of the group. He slowly reached out and touched the mirror. The pane wobbled in a strange way. "It's not glass." Jet said.

Suddenly a hand reached out of the mirror and grabbed onto Jet's arm. "Ahhhh!" He shouted, "Get it off of me!" But before anyone could react he was dragged into the mirror and out of sight.

"_Holy Heisenberg_!"-Cindy shouted. As shocked as they all were at Jet's disappearance into the mirror all eyes turned to Cindy. She blushed and asked "what? I heard Jimmy say it enough."

The room echoed with evil laughter, as Betty suddenly appeared in every mirror, and grabbed a nearby kid. The room echoed with their screams as they were pulled into a mirror the same way Jet had been. Cindy found herself alone with Carl.

Carl was trembling when he asked. "Where did they go?"

"I don't know, Carl, but we've got to find them."-Cindy said. "Keep low and stay in the middle of the hallway."

"Don't worry I'll find you guys! "she shouted into the empty corridor. Carl and Cindy continued toward the awaiting doorway. They got within ten feet of the doorway when Carl stopped moving forward. "Cindy! Help me!" He shouted as he began to sink into the floor as if it were made of quicksand. That was when Cindy noticed that Carl had stepped on a mirror that had been cleverly placed on the floor.

Cindy rushed toward Carl and grabbed his free arm as he struggled to stop himself from being dragged into the mirror. But it was no use. He vanished with a flicker of light. Cindy pounded against the glass but it had become an ordinary mirror. The glass cracked beneath her fist slicing into the knuckles. She watched as the blood flowed through the cracks before pulling her hand away.

The doorway sung open automatically. She bit her lip and hesitated a moment. She was alone, wounded, and had no idea what lay beyond the next chamber. "These are the moments that make life livable." She mused to herself as she stepped into the room.

She held her weapon at the ready and looked around. She recognized the area as part of the original lab. She could see the test tubes and beakers still lined up near the Bunsen burners. She stood in front of the lab counter and paused a moment. A single tear ran down her cheek as she picked up a small picture frame. It contained a picture of Jimmy and her from a happier time before all this stuff had happened. She placed the picture back where she found it. She continued moving through the lab after wiping her wet cheek.

She heard two low voices nearby. She turned toward the source and found the container that held Jimmy's nano-bots N-1 and N-2. She remembered them from the time Jimmy had created the Jim-tech personal anti-bully device. They stopped their arguing as she approached where they were held.

They stared up at her a moment before N-2 shouted excitedly, "It's the creator!"

N-1 turned to N-2, slapped him off the back of the head and said, "Fool! It's the creator's girlfriend."

"Oh, but perhaps if I do something to please her she will let me out."-N-2 said.

"What do you mean, let you out? Don't you mean let US out?" N-1 asked angrily.

Cindy grinned as they bantered back and forth among themselves before saying anything.

"Hello N-1 and N-2."-Cindy said.

"Ahhh did you hear that? She knows my name. I must be special."-N-2 said.

"She knew my name too moron!"- N-1 replied.

"Oh great creator's girlfriend, how can we serve you?"-N-1 said as he dropped to his knees and bowed.

Cindy chuckled to herself before saying "I'm not sure if you could help me actually."

"Try us, oh great creator's girlfriend."-N-1 said.

"Well first of all you can start by calling me Cindy."- She replied.

"Cindy? Oh very well the great creator's girlfriend, we shall call you, Cindy."-N-1 and N-2 said.

"Well your Creator is in trouble. He's being held by an evil monster and I have to rescue him." Cindy explained to them as they listened intently.

"We can be of service, Cindy. Let us out of here and we will pilot our old module to help defend you and reach the creator safely."-N-1 said.

"I don't know, you guys get a little carried away. Remember when you decided to delete the whole world?"-Cindy replied.

"We have been upgraded since then. We have a better understanding of right and wrong. We promise you that we will obey you and help where we can." N-1 presented his hands while speaking to emphasize that he wasn't crossing his fingers and was in fact speaking the truth.

"All right, I'll let you out. I could use all the help I can get."

"YAH!" the creator's girlfriend…I mean Cindy is going to let us help!" the nano-bots both shouted excitedly at the same time as they hugged each other.

The nano-bots piloted their module and hovered slightly behind Cindy as she explored more of the lab. She rummaged through the cabinets, shelves, and drawers for anything that might aid her.

She came upon his nano-bot solution. The solution he had injected in her system when she was injured. She wasn't a fan of needles but there was no time to waste. She filled the new syringe with the fluid and made sure to remove all the air bubbles before injecting the contents of the needle into her arm. The liquid was cold and hurt her slightly as it began to do its job. Her body began to feel better. The soreness and fatigue was subsiding and all the cuts and bruises went away as the nano-bots repaired her from within.

She entered the next part of the lab which she knew contained the Dream Injector 5000. She was surprised to see that it was still in the same place as it had been, but that didn't surprise her as much as seeing the young scientist that was working on it.

"Jimmy?" she asked him.

"Oh hi, Cindy, what are you doing here?" he asked her.

"I've come to rescue you." She said slightly confused.

"Rescue me? Rescue me from what? Oh can you hand me that wrench over there?" he asked as he continued to work on the machine.

"Rescue you from Betty of course. Are you alright Jimmy?" Cindy asked as she approached him, the concern showing in her face.

Jimmy put down his wrench and turned to face her. "I don't need to be rescued from Betty. Look Cindy, you have to get over this. I'm sorry that you don't like her but I've been dating Betty for a while now. Wait! What are the Nano-bots doing loose?" Jimmy said.

The nano-bots replied. "Great creator we've come to rescue you. We live to serve only you."

"Hold on Cindy." Jimmy pulled out a remote controller and pressed a button. An energy bubble appeared around the module trapping it within. "This stasis field will last one hour. That should be enough time for me to finish up my work and to get them back inside their enclosure. You shouldn't mess around with the nano-bots, Cindy. They can be very dangerous."

"Sorry Jimmy I thought they could help. Anyhow forget about that for a moment. What do you mean, you've been dating Betty and that I should get over it? - Cindy said even more confused. The anxiety in her heart was excruciating as he explained that he had fallen in love with Betty during the three days he had spent trapped on the island together a year ago.

"Jimmy, that wasn't Betty. That was me." Cindy said exasperated.

"You're mistaken Cindy. You suffered a head injury not too long ago. You're just confused. Maybe you should lie down." Jimmy said as he approached her slowly.

"No Jimmy you're the confused one. You and I spent three days on that island! I even asked you to stay there with me. Betty must be controlling your mind somehow." Cindy's resolve was fading as she considered that this all could be from her head injury.

Jimmy softly took her hands in his, and said "Cindy I know you like me but it's too late. Maybe if you had said something earlier we could have been together. I didn't know you liked me back than though. You were just so mean to me."

"But that was a while ago. You and I grew closer over the last few years. We both saved each other's lives countless times. You even went out of your way to find a pearl for me. You can't tell me you forgot all that." Cindy demanded.

Jimmy faltered a moment, staggering on his feet. "Did you say I gave you a pearl?"

"Yes, you had to open 137 oysters to find it. I have treasured it since you gave it to me." Cindy said excitedly. "_He's starting to remember." _ She thought to herself.

"I remember that. You later gave me a pearl as a gift in return." Jimmy replied.

"Yes, yes I did." Cindy said happily.

Jimmy felt around his pockets and his neck. "Regretfully I seem to have misplaced the pearl you gave me. May I perhaps see yours?" he asked sadly.

"Of course Jimmy." She said as she reached into her neckline and removed the chain around her neck that held her pearl. It glinted in the light. Jimmy held it in his hands and examined it a moment. He looked up at her and said "Cindy!", as he stepped forward and hugged her tightly. She hugged him back. They stayed in each other's embrace as she said "I'm so glad I found you. I love you so much, Jimmy Neutron."

Jimmy held her tight as he replied "I love you to Cindy Vortex." He bit into her neck and began sucking gently. The top of her pink suit turned slightly red as a stream of blood slid down her back. She gasped as the venom coursed through her system. She struggled to push him away but her strength faded as she blacked out.

Jimmy shimmered and changed into his large reptilian form as he laid the unconscious girl on a lab counter. Betty stepped out of the shadows. "Very good work my love."

"Thank you Betty. I have the pearl." He said as he placed it in her waiting hand.

She examined the perfect little sphere. It glimmered in the light and throbbed with power. She turned to face Cindy's prone unconscious form. "You have been a worthy adversary, Cindy. But the game is nearly finished." She placed the pearl in the awaiting empty mouth of the second snake on her ring. The ring hummed with energy as it became complete.

"What should I do with her?" Jimmy asked as he gestured toward Cindy.

"Leave her. She's as good as dead. Her sacrifice will not be in vain though. With the power we will channel through this ring we will control reality." Betty said as she pulled a lever on the wall. The Dream Injector turned horizontal.

Betty held Jimmy in an embrace, concentrated a moment and vanished. She had teleported the both of them to the top of a pyramid that was on the exterior of the island.

They stood in front of the large disc at the top of the pyramid. She aimed her ring and concentrated as energy blasted out of the ring hitting the disc. The disc distributed the energy to the other pyramids discs forming a circuit. Each disc sent energy to the next until all the exterior pyramids were connected by the energy. Once the circuit was complete the glowing energy simultaneously flowed toward the center pyramid.

Within the main pyramid the Dream Injector glowed brightly as it filled with the energy. The containment field that held the portal in place collapsed and the portal blasted upward filling the sky with its purplish glow. The glow spread all over the Earth until it was completely encased. The glow faded and vanished. Betty stopped concentrating and the energy faded from all the pyramids.

"Did it work?" Jimmy asked.

"You tell me." Betty said, as she levitated six inches off the ground.

She concentrated a moment and the pyramid changed into a large fortress that looked like a giant cobra. "I am a God!" Betty shouted excitedly.

Somewhere within the newly changed fortress Cindy stirred. The nano-bot solution had purged the poison from her system. She looked around the room and saw the module trapped within the stasis field. She deactivated the field and ordered the Nano-bots to go and find out what was happening outside. "We here and obey, Cindy, you can count on us!" They shouted as the module rocketed off up through the tunnel in the ceiling.

She made her way further into the lab until she came upon another room that contained prison cells. She felt thankful to find her friends safely within.

"Guys are you alright?" Cindy asked as she blasted the locks off the cell doors.

"We're better now that you're here." Eustace said.

"Thanks Cindy, the others were really worried about you. I wasn't because I knew you could handle yourself. "Carl said as he hugged Cindy tightly.

"You're alright, kid. Thanks for the rescue." Jet said as he stepped out of his cage.

"I don't suppose you know where our weapons are, do you?" Sheen asked.

"Unfortunately no, I was knocked out cold myself and they took my sword." Cindy said.

The nano-bots came rocketing into the chamber and excitedly began to tell what they had seen outside.

"Oh no! It's the Nano-bots again!" Carl interrupted.

"Calm down, Carl. They're on our side this time. Sorry Jim-tech, please continue. Tell us what you saw."

The group listened to the Nano-bots unsure of what any of them could do to stop Betty as this point. It all seemed hopeless. Cindy turned and sat down. The tears were brewing and she felt the sting in her eyes that indicated that they were about to flow.

"It will be alright Cindy. We'll stop Betty somehow." Libby said.

"I hope you're right Libby. Wait a minute!" Something on the counter caught Cindy's eye. It was her bottle of purple Flurp.

**To be continued…**


	36. Chapter 36

The Parents:

Zix piloted his ship as best as he could despite the onslaught of laser blasts. Despite the heavy shields that protected the ship, they still took heavy damage. The sweat dripped down Zix's brow as he evaded one blast after another. His piloting skills were being pushed to the limits.

"How's everything going on up here?" Hugh Neutron asked as he approached the bridge.

"It's not going well. Get back in your chair and buckle your seat belt!" Zix yelled in reply.

Hugh hesitated, his face clearly revealed that his feelings were hurt as he replied, "But maybe there's something I can do to help."

"Get back in your chair now! That's an order from your captain!" Zix shouted, as he steered the ship to the right narrowly missing another energy blast. Hugh stumbled and crashed into the control panel. The ship lurched forward as Hugh's weight rammed the controls forward. The ship went into a nose dive, sending Hugh backward and into the wall. Everyone screamed as Zix strained to pull back on the controls. The ship shuddered from the change in air pressure caused by the blast.

Travoltron shouted, "Someone has got to do something, or we're all going to like die or something. You know what I mean?"

"You're right fool! I better help, Zix, or something." Tee shouted in reply as he unlatched his seat belt and fought against the g-forces to get to the controls to aid Zix.

"Don't do it, Tee! Stay in your seat! That's an order!" Zix shouted as he saw what Tee was doing.

"Yeah Tee, Zix is right. It's too dangerous!" Travoltron shouted.

"If I don't do something, then we'll all die fool!." Tee shouted as he pulled himself forward. His muscles strained against the forces near to their breaking point. But, Tee refused to give up hope. His friends' lives depended on it. He reached the controls and grabbed on tightly with his powerful fists. The ship lurched upward from the combined force of Zix and Tee pulling back on the controls. The ship swooped out of its nose dive.

"Yah, you did it!" All the parents shouted as the ship leveled off.

"Are we safe? Is it going to be alright?" asked Mrs. Wheezer.

"I think everything should be just fine from here on in Mrs. Wheezer. Zix said, as the ship received a massive energy blast that blew a massive hole in the port side of the ship. The cabin filled with black smoke, the control panels sparked with little bolts of electricity.

"Hold on everybody! We're going down!" Zix yelled as the ship crash landed near the entrance of the newly constructed Cobra shaped fortress. Archimedes and Valerie Lee kept the serpent men army from swarming over the fallen comrades with blasts of dragon fire.

From the top of the Pyramid, Betty smiled as she watched the ship as it crashed to the ground. She was pleased with the energy blast she had created with her eyes. The air crackled from the energy and still stunk of burnt dust and dander.

"That was very impressive, Betty." Jimmy said.

Betty smiled in a smug way and said, "You haven't seen anything yet." She paused for a moment as if distracted by something only she could hear. Her eyes glazed over to their snake form during her pause. She growled angrily for a moment. "She lives! How is she alive?" She hissed under her breath. Her anger mounted and telekinetic energy rippled out of her bending five foot high iron candle sticks that were within arm's reach of her. Her long hair and the curtains in the window flew around wildly from the movement of air caused by the disbursement of energy.

Jimmy backed up one space slightly worried. She looked up at him clearly attracted by his movement. Her eyes seemed to stare right into his very soul. The fear began to build up within him as he braced himself in case her anger turned on him. But instead, her eyes returned to their normal pretty brown color and she smiled.

"Cindy still lives and our friends have been freed from the dungeon. Why don't you lead a welcoming committee to greet them? Take this with you. It will allow you to harness my power." She said as she handed him a black colored ring. It was shaped like a cobra with its head pulled back and its mouth open ready to attack. The tail circled the wearer's finger. The open mouth glowed with an eerie green light. Thank you, Betty. I will not fail you." Jimmy said.

"One other thing, I think its best that you forget about your former life completely. It would be best for the both of us if you discontinue using the name Jimmy Neutron. From now on I will call you General Tarken. Betty said as she waved her hand in front of his face. His eyes glowed with a green light.

**The gang:**

"It's my sports bottle!" Cindy said excitedly.

"Cindy, it's not that I'm not happy for you, but if you were thirsty I would have let you use some of my water." Carl said.

"Thanks, Carl. But you don't understand. I poured one of the essences of N-men packets in here. If I drink this bottle I'll regain my Special-girl powers for a half an hour. Betty took it from me after our fight. I was worried that she would drink it." Cindy replied with a grin.

"That would have been really bad." Carl said.

"Where did you get that, Cindy?" Libby asked.

"Yeah, what gives? I thought we used up the last of the N-men packets when we rescued, Jimmy, from the league of villains." Sheen said.

"Actually, those original packets were created because Jimmy synthesized them from our DNA when we had our super powers. He saved the data on his computer. He had the recipe, so it was simply a matter of creating more from it. I've been holding on to this particular batch since Jimmy and I got out of the dream world." Cindy said.

"I'm not surprised to be honest. After you were in your coma, Jimmy did everything he could think of to save you. He even created more of the essence of N-men packets in an attempt to glean some kind of secret from it that might be the answer. He had told me that he regretted his decision to not research a way to give us our powers permanently. You see he realized that if you had your special girl powers, that car would never have hurt you." Carl said.

"Do you think Jimmy kept any of our N-men packets in this place, Carl?" Libby asked.

"Actually he did. Follow me." Carl said as he led the group back through the parts of the lab that were still existed. They found the display case that contained each one of the N-men packets. There was several of each one stored in the case. It seemed that Jimmy had been stock piling them just in case some big disaster happened.

"Hey look, Jimmy still has more of that love potion thing." Sheen said.

"It's a love pheromone, Sheen." Carl replied.

"What's a pheromone? Is that a telephone you can call ferrets on? I want to call some ferrets that would be cool." Sheen said.

"Sheen, a pheromone is a chemical produced by the body that is meant to attract members of the opposite sex." Libby said.

"Let's just focus on getting the N-men packets and escaping from her, shall we?" Eustace asked.

"So, you're saying that if I ingest the contents of one of these packets I'll gain some kind of super power for half an hour?" Jet asked,

"Yup. The difficult part is which one do I want to have? Do I have to only have one? What happens if I eat more than one at a time? Would I get more than one power?" Sheen asked excitedly.

"That might be a little dangerous, Sheen." Libby said.

Cindy picked up a packet of Love potion 976J and stared at it. She remembered how Jimmy had acted when he was exposed to the simple substance. He had told her he loved her in front of everyone at Sam's. Everyone laughed at her. It had been so embarrassing. Despite her fear that it was going to be a trick she still went after him that day. The day ended abruptly with her being sucked out of the lab. She remembered how much she had wanted to kill him for it at first.

Her feelings had been so hurt. She hadn't known how she was supposed to feel. A part of her felt embarrassed at the time, while another side of her felt guilty like she had done something people wouldn't be proud of. The whole experience left her uncomfortable and she had trouble sleeping that night.

She probably would have killed him if he hadn't apologized to her the way he had. He actually came over to her house a day later and apologized. He had told her he would have come sooner but he had to wait for the pheromone to wear off. He was genuinely sorry for hurting her feelings and wanted to make it up to her. He took her out for lunch and did the best he could to explain how the pheromone worked and how he had come to be exposed to it.

She had claimed that she understood and then tried to cover for her reactions at the time by claiming some of the pheromone had gotten on her as well. She wasn't entirely sure if Jimmy had believed her though. He hadn't insisted on her wearing Gouda-feta cheese around her neck.

They had grown so close since then however. Her thoughts were interrupted by approaching guards. Cindy slipped the packet into her pocket and turned to face the guards.

"Get behind me kids." Jet said as he aimed his Mp5k at the approaching soldiers. They marched in formation. They were heavily armored and heavily armed with an array of laser rifles and laser spears. They had green scaly skin and yellow snake like eyes. General Tarken wore his snake armor and was in his serpent man form as he led the troops forward.

"I am General Tarken. If you surrender I will spare your lives." Tarken said.

"That's a very generous offer, Tarken. However I think you should surrender considering I have a gun pointed right at your head. Jet said with a grin. "Why don't you order your troops to leave and we can discuss the terms of my not blowing your brains out. What do you say?"

"You're weapon. You will not need it." Tarken said as he reached out his right hand that bore the ring. The Mp5k became extremely hot in Jet's hand. "Oww!" Jet shouted as he let the weapon go. It didn't fall however. It glided across the room to Tarken's awaiting hand. "

"Anyone got a better idea?" Jet asked

"I repeat my offer for you to surrender." Tarken said.

"I don't think so snake breath. Cindy said as she drank her bottle. Every eye in the room focused on her. She felt strange as the liquid raced through her body. She felt the power surge as her molecular structure realigned as every cell in her body was energized.

She had no way of knowing but the nano-bots that were still present within her body became infused with energy from the sudden power flux. They were sped up beyond normal operating limits and almost over loaded. They hadn't been programmed to deal with such an incident. They recovered from the power surge and began a new function, once a full body scan revealed that the body wasn't being harmed, but instead was being helped by the change that had caused the power flux. They began to change Cindy's DNA at the molecular level.

"Fine have it your way. Guards seize them." Tarken commanded as the guards began to approach.

Cindy stood in a defensive martial arts stance and taunted the nearest guard to attack her. He reached for her and she caught him by his arm and threw him over her shoulder. He bodily went head over heels and crashed into the wall twenty feet away. Ten guards rushed and pig piled on top of her. Like in an old Hercules movie, Cindy flung her arms upward and serpent men went flying off of her in every direction.

"What are you guys waiting for? Take your N-men packets!" She commanded as she took in a deep breath, faced the approaching guards and blew with all her might. A hurricane like wind blasted out of her mouth sending dozens of guards crashing into the wall at the far end of the hall.

N-1 and N-2 used their molecular atomizer at Cindy's command, and began zapping guards that got close, as Jet and Eustace grabbed two of the packets marked Cindy and quickly ate the contents. Sheen and Carl both ate two of the packets marked Sheen. Libby used her packet and the N-Men jumped into battle with what seemed like an endless supply of guards.

Carl ran around a group so fast that the wind formed a tornado. The guards screamed as the wind carried them upward before sending them crashing into the walls.

"Look out! Libby shouted as she made a force field to shield Eustace from a laser blast.

"Thanks, Libby. But very unnecessary." Eustace said as he stepped around the shield and walked calmly toward the guards as laser fire struck him harmlessly dozens of time. He got within ten feet of them and clapped his hands. The shockwave knocked them over.

Jet watched Cindy as she red colored energy blasted out of her eyes again and again as she melted the weapons out of the guards' hands and knocked other guards across the room.

"What's the deal with the energy out of your eyes?" Jet asked.

"I learned I could do this by focusing my super vision. I had to use it to lobotomize a monster a few months ago. Anyhow, if you focus it the right way, it will melt an object, or you can use it to knockback an enemy. Like so!" She shouted as she blasted another guard away from her.

"Let me try." Jet said as he concentrated. His vision went in and out of focus as it switched between micro-vision to telescopic-vision to x-ray vision before finally emitting heat vision. He melted a hole in the side of the fortress. Day light streamed in.

"Hey guys! I made a way out." Jet shouted.

"Go Jet. Lead the others out. I'll take up the rear and meet you outside." Cindy said as she floated up off the ground.

"Hey, you mean I can fly with your powers as well?" Jet said shocked.

"Yeah just decide which way you want to go and your body will do it. Now go. Lead them out." Cindy said.

"You got it." He decided he wanted to fly a few feet above the ground and head out of the tunnel. He gasped as his body lurched suddenly forward. "I'm flying! Come on guys let's get out of here." He shouted, as he made his way out of the tunnel with his friends right behind him, except for Cindy.

Cindy used her x-ray vision to see where General Tarken had gone. He was below her in the same chamber that Cindy had fought Betty earlier. He was standing near a large green colored gem and was clearly up to something.

She looked at her watch. She still had fifteen minutes until her N-men power would run out. "Well, I would only waste time if I follow the passageways to the room below. I think I'll just drill through the floor instead." She said to herself. Grinning ear to ear she spun in a circle so, fast that she became a blur as she drilled through the floor.

Tarken looked up Cindy bore her way through the floor and landed gently in front of him. The debris showered from the hole and the air was filled with dust.

"Come in Cindy. My attorney will be in touch with you over the damage to the floor." Tarken said with a grin.

"Enough with the jokes, Tarken. I want you to stand away from that crystal. I don't know what you're up to but the only thing your attorney is going to be doing is working to get you out of jail." Cindy said as, she stood with her hands on her hips.

"So you intend to arrest me? To, take me in to the authorities?" Tarken asked.

"Yes." Cindy replied.

"On what charges?" Tarken asked clearly amused.

"Let's try attempted murder and kidnapping." Cindy said.

"Those are some serious charges. You better take me in." he said as, he put his wrists together and held his hands up as, if he was waiting to be handcuffed.

"I will." She said as she walked toward him with some extra large zip ties that she had stored in her utility belt.

She suddenly felt weak as, she got closer to the crystal. Sweat began to bead on her forehead. The room felt like it was spinning and her knees began to wobble. She looked down at her hands. Her veins were starting to stick out and they had a greenish tint to them.

"You okay, Cindy? You don't look so good." Tarken asked with mock concern. She collapsed into his arms. "Don't worry, Cindy. You'll feel better once your powers wear off. That crystal has been created just for you. It's emitting a low frequency radiation, which is stripping your body of the energy that it creates when exposed to the solar radiation given off by the yellow sun. Once your N-men power wears off you'll feel better. Of course by that time you'll be locked in the dungeon.

She struggled to stay awake, as the dizziness she was feeling grew worse. In a last ditch effort she pulled something out of her pocket and feebly crushed it against Tarken's face. "What? Uhh what is that?" he asked as Cindy blacked out.

He sneezed from the powder that was in his nose. He placed Cindy's unconscious body on the floor and picked up the packet. It was marked with a red heart. "This seems familiar somehow. Why don't I remember it?" He asked himself as he glanced down at Cindy. His eyes locked on her face. Instead of disgust or hatred for his enemy he found something else. His eyes softened and became blue as he slowly returned to his human form.

A warmth spread through this chest as the iciness that had flowed through his veins was replaced with something that seemed alien yet somehow familiar. He continued to stare at the blonde girl that had been his enemy and realized he loved her.

To be continued…


	37. Chapter 37

**The gang:**

Jet led the group out into the light at the end of the tunnel. He was surprised to see the fallen space craft. The parents were clambering out of it like spiders, their pills having taken affect. Hundreds of serpent men were surrounding the area where the ship had landed, and two massive dragon like animals were acting like sentries, keeping the army back. A plume of dragon fire filled the air again and again as the dragons fought to keep the waves back. The commotion delayed anyone noticing that Cindy wasn't with them including N-1 and N-2.

"We have to help those guys." Jet shouted to the group of kids.

"It's our parents!" Carl shouted

"And Zix, Tee, and Travoltron, they must have all come to help rescue Jimmy!" Libby shouted back.

"But our powers will run out soon!" Eustace shouted.

"Eustace is right. We should use our powers while we can to get back to our mechs." Libby said.

"Right!" the group shouted in unison.

"Mechs?" asked as he eyed one of the lion shaped robots.

"Yeah, come on Jet, you can ride with me." Eustace said as he raced off toward the black lion.

**The parents:**

The parents scattered out of the smoldering space craft. Their bodies surged with power as the Total Health Boost capsules kicked in.

"Hey, what about us?" Zix shouted, as he watched the parents climb out of sight.

Judy stopped as she clung to the side of the ship, her hands sticking like Spiderman. "Hugh, we can't leave them behind." She shouted to Hugh as he climbed passed her.

"You're right Sugar Dumpling. Let's go back for them." Hugh said as he spun around and climbed back into the ship.

"How are we going to carry them out of the ship?" Hugh asked as they stood before Zix, Tee, and Travoltron.

"That's a good question, Hugh. I figured we could horseback ride them out one at a time." Judy responded.

"That's a great idea, me first." Travoltron said as he pushed his way past Zix and Tee.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean you first?" Zix demanded angrily.

"Yeah fool! What makes you so special?" Tee shouted as he joined in.

A fist fight nearly broke out until the light above was blocked out. All eyes turned upward toward the gaping hole in the ceiling of the ship. A massive dragon head was peering in at them.

"I believe I could give you a solution to your problem." Archimedes said with a gentle smile. "Why don't I carry you all out?"

"Uh, well that would be rather nice of you." Zix said in response.

"Climb onto my neck." He commanded in a kind voice as he slid his head deeper into the hole.

A moment later, and the group was airborne, as the dragon pulled away from the ship with a mighty flap of its wings.

The two dragons circled each other in the sky. Judy could see the other parents on a 2nd dragon that was gold colored. They waved excitedly back to each other.

"Look! Down there, you can see the kids." Judy shouted to Hugh.

Along the ground the kids raced toward their lion mechs. Judy felt some relieve to see the mechs fire up and begin to move around the ground below, all except a blue colored lion.

**Cindy:**

Cindy slowly regained consciousness. "Where am I?" she asked groggily of a shape she saw in her blurred vision.

She felt a comforting hand touch her shoulder. "Try to relax. You've been out longer than I expected. I was getting worried."

Her head was spinning and she turned to the side as the contents of her relatively empty stomach came up. "What's wrong with me?" Cindy asked.

"Your body reacted worse to the power sapping crystal than I anticipated. It took me some time to figure out why. A molecular scan shows that your DNA is no longer human." The blurred shape responded. The voice sounded distorted. She wasn't sure if it was due to her own senses being impaired at the moment. Based on what he was saying she figured it was General Tarken.

She pulled away from the hand. "You're a liar, General Tarken." Cindy said. She crawled a few steps backward into the sunlight that was coming through a small window. The light felt warm and comforting on her arm and face. She slowly felt her head stop spinning and her vision cleared. Her eyes went wide as she gazed at the face of the person speaking to her.

Jimmy smiled back at her. His eyes were sparkling blue in the light. Her heart raced for a moment before she frowned at the thought that this would be another imposter.

"You're not the real Jimmy. You're just a scaly shape shifter." Cindy spit as she spoke.

"No Cindy, it's really me. I was under Betty's spell for a while and yes I was a scaly shape shifter. But I purged all traces of Betty's venom from my system. Here, run a molecular scan on me yourself if you want. He held out small hand held device. It was the Neutron portable molecular scanner-Jimmy had created it for studying various foreign life forms on the go.

She felt a little skeptical but his eyes were clear, no longer containing the yellowish tint that might have betrayed the snake form. Her heart raced inside her chest. A part of her wanted to trust him immediately, but she took the scanner and waited impatiently for the results. The scan came up clean. She sighed with relieve.

Jimmy stood rigid in front of her but his arms kept moving a little up toward her, as if he wanted to reach out and hug her, but he was hesitating. She resisted long as she could, but lunged forward, finding herself in his arms.

"Oh Jimmy, I'm so glad I really found you this time." She said as she kissed him repeatedly. It was painful to force themselves to stop kissing, but they eventually did.

"How did you break the hold Betty had over you?" Cindy asked.

"It was the love Pheromone. When you hit me in the face with it, I felt such over whelming love for you that it broke the hypnosis I was under. After that it was an easy process of scanning my body and determining what was causing the snake like effects. I was then able to synthesize a simple serum consisting of anti-venom and nano-bots to administer it, and I was good as new. "Jimmy said proudly.

"And, you did this all within five minutes?" Cindy said surprised.

"Hey, I'm Jimmy Neutron." He said arrogantly as if that should be enough explanation. She went to say something rude in response but he kissed her gently on the lips before continuing.

"I wasn't lying about your DNA not being human. I think I can explain what must have happened. I had anticipated that you would use your N-men Packet at some point, which is why I had arranged to have the radiated crystal in place to cancel your powers out. I never intended for it to kill you though. It should have only made you weak like a human again. But that's just it technically you're no longer human."

"Why is that exactly?" Cindy asked.

"I found traces of the Nano-bot repair solution in your system. It is only logical to assume that your ingesting the N-men packet with the nano-bots inside you caused them to over load. They must have seen the change brought on by the N-men packet as a positive thing, and changed your DNA at the subatomic level." Jimmy said.

"My metabolism is being burned up isn't it?" Cindy said a pinch of fear in her voice.

"Actually, surprisingly no. You're body is handling the changes cleanly." Jimmy replied.

"But I don't have any of my powers, Jimmy." Cindy protested.

"You will, but it will take more time. You're body is an empty battery metaphorically of course. The longer you're exposed to solar radiation given off by the sun, the stronger you will get. It's a part of the change you went through to avoid burning out your metabolism. You will no longer be instantly charged by the sun the way you were before. But you're processing it more efficiently now, so you will store more of the energy and for longer." Jimmy replied.

"I'm a permanent freak than aren't I?" Cindy asked.

"Well technically speaking and only based on DNA, you are one of a kind. I can find a cure for it if you wish. I have a sample of your untainted DNA in the lab back in Retroville."

"That lab was destroyed Jimmy." Cindy said exasperated.

"Not entirely. The area that I contained the data is still intact. Anyhow, we can worry about such things later. Right now our parents, friends, the very world are in danger." Jimmy said.

"You're right! Let's go. We have to reach my lion. It's right outside in the courtyard." Cindy replied as she grabbed onto the ledge of the small window and peered outside. "I can see it right down there."

Jimmy looked out window. The lion glinted in the sun. "Follow me we can get outside this way." He said as he headed toward doorway. He stopped as the hallway leading to the room they were in filled with the sounds or armor clattering and voices chattering.

"Uh oh. Sounds like troops are on the way. They won't be friendly to either one of us at this point." Jimmy said as he raced toward the door, slammed it shut, and barred it with a thick heavy board. "We have to get out of here a different way!" he shouted as he ran back toward the window.

"This window is too small to climb through." He said in dismay.

"Can't you just pretend you're still General Tarken and order them to let us pass?" Cindy asked.

"No they'll sense that I'm human again. We have to get out of here on our own. The hole you made drilling into this room is too high to reach and this window is too small." Jimmy replied. The room echoed with pounding sounds as the troops battered the door.

"Move out of the way Jimmy. Maybe I'm strong enough to get through the wall." Cindy said to Jimmy as she grabbed on to the ledge and pulled with all her might. Her fingers ached and her muscles screamed with pain as she strained to pry the bricks lose.

The sunlight was beaming in on her face. She felt herself slowly getting stronger. The bricks remained intact for a few moments, but small hairline cracks began to appear. "Urrrr, I think….it's working….Jimmy." She said as she continued to pull back on the ledge.

Jimmy grabbed on to the ledge next to her and added to her effort. The top layer of bricks broke up, falling to the ground in chunks. The opening increased the amount of sunlight flowing in. The bricks began to break away easier under Cindy's ever increasing strength until the hole was large enough to allow safe passage out on to a small ledge that lined the structure.

Cindy climbed out onto the ledge into the sunlight. The ground was about ten yards below.

"Cindy, I don't know for sure if you're going to be strong enough to make this jump yet. " Jimmy said worried. His eyes glanced back at the wooden door that was beginning to bend inward from the pounding on the other side. It wouldn't hold much longer.

She closed her eyes and concentrated, but nothing happened. "I'm too weak to fly on my own." She said disappointed. We'll have to go around. Oh wait! I'm wearing my anti gravity boots."

"That's great. They might not hold both our weights though. "Cindy added.

"They will, but not for long. They will slow our descent enough to make it safe enough at the least." Jimmy said.

"Well hold on to me tight, Jimmy." Cindy said as the door broke inward with a screeching crash. Jimmy didn't look back as he wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders and felt his stomach lurch as the ground disappeared from under his feet as they lifted off. The room filled with the sounds of the incoming troops behind them.

To be continued…


	38. Chapter 38

Betty hovered in the air surveying the battle, as it raged across the island, as the four lions raced into action.

"These young fools think they can defeat me with machines. These are not lions. All I see is a bunch of little kittens. I'll give them some nice playthings." Betty said to herself, as she laughed manically. She held her hands outstretched over her head and concentrated. She could feel the power rush through her and a large portal opened in a clearing a few hundred yards south of the battle. Two giant mice emerged and two large balls of string. Each one was as large as a five story building.

The gang was occupied as they dodged laser blasts and suicidal gargoyles with bombs strapped to their backs. No one noticed what Betty was up to. To make matters worse the large red dragon they had seen earlier was joining the onslaught of attackers. The dragon flew over Eustace and Jet in the black lion. Its shadow was massive and it appeared to have blocked out the sun.

"Whoa that dragon is a little larger than our dragon friends." Eustace said as he steered his lion to follow it. The dragon arched its wings and dived diagonally. "It's going after Carl!" Jet shouted in alarm.

"Watch your flank Carl!" Eustace shouted frantically into the mike.

"What?" Carl replied the fear racing through him. He clumsily pulled back on the accelerator and leaned left on the controls sending the yellow lion spiraling off awkwardly. Through pure dumb luck he avoided the dragon's attack by mere inches.

"Thanks Eustace. I wouldn't have noticed it in time." Carl replied in a rather shaky voice.

The dragon banked around and catching a warm gust of air shot high into a large patch of cumulus clouds.

"Keep an eye out for it to return" Jet commanded from within the black lion where he sat next to Eustace.

"We got more things to worry about guys!" Libby shouted "Mice!"

"So what, Libby? What's the big deal over a little mouse?" Sheen asked.

"Look to your left Sheen!" Eustace shouted.

Sheen turned and looked. "Ahhh! Giant mice!"

Libby's lion shuttered as a one of the massive balls of string crashed into it.

**Cindy and Jimmy:**

The door shattered as the serpent men soldiers bashed their way into the room. The lead soldier reached the hole in the wall moments after Jimmy and Cindy had flown out of it.

"Halt! Come back here!" he shouted as he opened fire. His first shot buzzed right by Cindy's left ear.

"They're shooting at us, Jimmy!" Cindy shouted hysterically.

"Cindy, go left!" Jimmy shouted. She immediately steered to the left as they continued to increase the distance between themselves and the source of the shots.

"Whoa that was close!" Cindy shouted as a second shot tore the fabric of her left sleeve.

The next shot clipped Cindy in the heel of her right boot destroying its flight capability. Jimmy felt his stomach lurch, as Cindy, who he clung to, suddenly pitched to the side.

"Jimmy hold on!" Cindy shouted.

"I'm trying Cindy!" Jimmy shouted in fear as he struggled to maintain his grip around her neck, as Cindy flew uncontrollably back and forth underneath him. Luckily their sporadic movements aided them in narrowly missing several other shots.

Cindy managed to stabilize their balance and hovered forty feet in the air. She struggled to maintain her balance on the remaining hover shoe, while supporting Jimmy's weight on her back.

"Stop moving Neutron! You're going to make us fall." Cindy complained.

"I'm trying the best I can Cindy, and since when do you call me Neutron these days?" Jimmy asked slightly hurt.

"Sorry Jimmy, I'm just a little scared at the moment and old habits die hard. Besides, this isn't the time to worry about such things." Cindy replied.

"You're right. Sorry I'm just a little nervous. This is probably a bad time to mention that the shoes will only allow you to descend if both are operational." Jimmy said.

"Oh my god! Jimmy, why didn't you say something about that earlier?" Cindy demanded.

"I'm sorry, Cindy, but I didn't picture being shot at when I designed them." Jimmy replied.

She frantically looked back at the soldier aiming his rifle in her and Jimmy's location. He had stopped firing.

"Stay where you are. My men will get you down. "The soldier shouted. He turned to speak to others in the room and gave out orders in a strange language that neither child could figure out, before returning to aiming his weapon at Cindy and Jimmy, where they hovered in front of him 40 feet away.

"Stay where you are or I'll shoot. I have you in my sights." The soldier yelled.

She looked down at the shoe that was keeping them from falling about forty feet to the ground below.

"Terrific. What a great rescue mission this turned out to be." Cindy grumbled, the frustration mounting within her.

Well Jimmy this would be a great time for you to have one of your brain blasts.

"Your right Vortex. I'll try…Think, think, think!" The synapses began to fire at an increasing rate as images began to flash through Jimmy's mind. An idea began to take root in his mind and as it bloomed he excitedly shouted "Brain blast!"

"Cindy let him hit you with his weapon." Jimmy shouted excitedly.

"Excuse me? Have you blown a gasket in that big brain of yours? I'm not going to let myself get shot." Cindy said angrily.

"No, you don't understand. Those pulse rifles work by focusing sunlight into an intense beam of energy." Jimmy said.

"That's really interesting Jimmy, but I don't see how that is going to…" Her words trailed off and her eyes went wide as she realized what Jimmy was getting at. "You mean if I let him shoot me it might increase my strength level enough enabling me to fly?"

"There is a slim chance. Without my equipment there is no way for me to gauge how quickly you're metabolizing solar radiation." Jimmy replied. "You might have already absorbed enough to at least handle the fall from here. Either way our chances of surviving this will be better if you get a concentrated dose."

He whispered "Though there is a slim chance that weapon will blow a hole in your chest the size of a barn door."

"What was that?" Cindy asked.

"Nothing!" Jimmy replied.

"Oh hell with it. Let's go for it." Cindy said. She braced her dangling left foot over the right one and slowly turned. She wobbled off balance and pitched awkwardly to the side, gliding a few feet. The guard immediately opened fire. Cindy's efforts were rewarded as her attempted spin caused her to rotate enough to shield Jimmy from the percussive blasts. The force of the shots sent her flipping head over heels, as she was blasted several yards further from the position they had just been in.

Time seemed to slow down as Jimmy lost his hold around Cindy's neck and was launched upward into the sky with a loud scream. Cindy felt the power surging through every cell in her body. The remaining hover shoe shorted out with a soft popping sound dropping her, like a stone.

"Jimmy!" She shouted as she hovered ten feet from the ground. She could see Jimmy falling as if it was in slow motion as her super speed kicked in. She raced forward into the air.

"Cindy you can fly again?" Jimmy said, feeling relieved, as she caught him in midair.

"It's a good thing you were right about the pulse rifles, Jimmy." She said as she placed him gently on the ground outside of the blue lion. She balled her hands into fists and said. "I feel stronger than ever, Jimmy."

"Look out Neutron!" Cindy shouted as a large shadow appeared over head. A Jimmy hulk landed in the spot that Cindy and Jimmy had just occupied. It looked around in frustration, clearly confused. "Excuse me?" A sweet voice said behind it. It turned to look for the source and received a mighty punch to the face sending it careening across the courtyard.

"That was close Cindy. How did you know it was coming?" Jimmy asked as he closed the distance between him and Cindy.

"I could hear it coming." Cindy replied.

"How very sensitive you are." Jimmy replied flirtatiously as he pulled her tight and kissed her.

She stepped back and wiped her lips with a smile. "What was that for?" Cindy asked.

"For saving my life." He said with a grin.

Betty materialized beside them. "Jimmy, how could you do this to me?" she shouted. "I thought we had a bond." Her eyes were filling with tears that were ready to gush.

Jimmy and Cindy both yelped by the sudden appearance.

"Don't worry I'm not going to hurt you." Betty said. "I'm here to speak to you. I've dispatched the guards. They aren't coming." She added, as if in response to the nervous glances Jimmy kept giving toward the fortress, and where the Jimmy hulk had smashed through the wall.

Jimmy nervously stepped closer to her. He kept his eyes locked on hers, as if searching for the slightest hint that she might attack.

"Well what do you want?" Jimmy asked.

"I want to know how you can do this to me, Jimmy? How can you leave me." Betty asked as her eyes filled with tears.

"Betty…." Jimmy began to say as he stepped toward her with his hands out. Cindy stopped him with a single hand placed softly to his chest. "Jimmy, please be careful. I don't trust her."

"See that's what I mean, Jimmy. You're allowing this girl to come between us. I thought we had a bond." Betty said sadly as her human heart was breaking.

Jimmy replied, "You kidnapped me and brainwashed me. What kind of bond is that?"

"I made you better than you were. I did what was best for you." Betty replied.

"No, Betty! You did what was best for you!" Jimmy replied.

"I love you Jimmy. How can you choose that freak over me?" Betty demanded.

"Who are you calling a freak? You're not even real. You're just a figment of my imagination." Cindy replied angrily.

"Hey! I might have started that way, but that has changed. Sure in the dream world, I was a heartless creature that ran program. I did what I was designed to do. But things are different now. The longer I stay in this world, bonded to a human host, the more I feel emotions like a human. I feel love, jealousy, and unfortunately regret." Betty replied.

Jimmy felt a little confused by Betty's statement as he asked, "Human host? Regret?"

"Yes, I guess there is no point hiding the truth from you now. I really am Betty. She and I have become one organism."

"When I first gained access to this world I found that I was nothing more than a black shapeless thing. I realized that if I was going to truly survive in this world that I would need a host. You see, Jimmy, your house was not the first I went to. I went to Betty's house and found her sleeping in her bed. It was easy enough for me to latch on to her, to take over her mind, to become her." Betty replied.

"That's terrible. You can't just take over someone's body. That's just gruesome. You're just a worthless parasite." Cindy said angrily.

"What did you call me? Call me a worthless parasite, one more time." Betty replied angrily. Her eyes glowed with an unearthly light.

"Break it up you two." Jimmy said as he stepped forward to shield Cindy. His attempt to push her behind him failed. She was unmovable to his mere human strength. "Urrgh, get behind me Cindy." Jimmy said.

"Uhm Jimmy. I'm the invulnerable one. Remember?" she asked as she stepped between him and Betty.

"Cindy, we need to find out how to separate the parasite from Betty. Let's try to keep this civil." Jimmy protested as he tried to step around Cindy again.

"Yes, Cindy. Let's keep this civil. You wouldn't want to cause your friends anymore pain. Would you?" Betty asked; as she glanced at the battlefield that had grown abruptly quiet, since Betty had approached.

"I'm sorry, Betty. But I love Cindy. I can't be with you. How about we all go together to what's left of my lab. I'm sure we could find a way to return you safely to the dream world." Jimmy said sweetly.

"You mean separate me from my host." Betty said angrily. "I see where your loyalties lay, Jimmy Neutron. We could have ruled the world together. But, you had to choose her over me. "

She waved her hand and two small carbonium domes formed over Jimmy and Cindy, trapping them within.

"Hey!" Cindy shouted as she began pounding her fists against her dome. Hair line cracks formed. "When I get out of here, I'm going to whoop your parasitic butt."

"That is unlikely, Cindy." Betty said as she put her hands out over her head and concentrated. The dome healed and the sun tinted to a deep red.

Cindy punched the dome again. Her hand throbbed with pain. "Oww that hurt. What's happening to me?"

"I've merely set up a dome around the planet. It's filtering out that pesky radiation that gives you powers." Betty snapped her fingers and two full grown Tyrannosauruses emerged from the tree-line.

"Come Jimmy, I don't want you to see this." She said, gesturing toward Cindy and the approaching Rexes. Jimmy's dome vanished and Jimmy hypnotically stepped toward Betty. "Perhaps you will learn to love me if Cindy is out of the way. " She took Jimmy's hand and led him toward the fortress.

Cindy frantically looked back between the Rexes that were almost at her location, and where Betty was leading Jimmy.

Cindy stared at two pairs of large jaws that appeared in front of her. She watched as the Carbonium fogged up from rancid breath.

"Well at least this Carbonium dome should protect me from being a hot lunch." She said to herself.

To Cindy's horror the dome vanished. Her nostrils flared from a pungent smell as her hair ruffled as the breath hit her in the face. Her eyes went wide in terror. Her mind raced as she wondered if the pungent smell that could only be compared to urine was coming from the breath of the Rexes, or from her.

To be continued…


	39. Chapter 39

**Cindy:**

Cindy's gaze switched back and forth between the two t-rexes. One had a green mottled body with black stripes running down its back; the other T-rex was a drab reddish-brown color.

"_I read somewhere that Dinosaurs have many things in common with modern birds. The pretty green and black one is clearly the male. The female would be drab to help camouflage her while she is on the nest. What is wrong with me? I should be thinking of a way out of this and here I find myself thinking of useless facts. I'm getting as bad as Jimmy." –Cindy thought to herself._

"Well, the filtered sunlight is sapping my powers. Hopefully I have enough juice left in me to get out of this." -Cindy said to herself.

The male lunged forward and snapped his massive jaws. Cindy leapt backwards with all her might, flipping head over heels, narrowly avoiding the bite. She focused her power and fired a blast of heat vision, igniting the small shrubbery on fire, blocking the Rex's path. The male retreated a few paces away from the fire. It let out an ear shattering roar. "Ahhh!"-Cindy shouted as she closed her eyes and covered her throbbing ears.

Her ears were still ringing, so she didn't hear the female approaching from around the fire. The jaws clamped down around her. Cindy felt the air crushed out of her. She gasped for air. "_I can't believe I'm still alive. I'm not as drained as I feared I was, but I'm running out of time. I'm starting to feel the teeth. It's a matter of time before they pierce my skin."_

The Rex shook its head viciously back and forth, clearly trying to shake its prey apart in the process. Cindy gritted her teeth and pushed against the vice like jaws that held her firmly. They started to move apart. She felt a sharp pain spread along her back as she slipped out between the open jaws and went tumbling to the ground, directly onto a pile of small rocks, pain shot through her body.

She got to her feet as fast as she could. She could feel a strange dampness spreading along the back of her suit; she reached hesitantly to feel the area, there was slice in the fabric, and a long shallow wound. Her fingers felt damp, they were red with blood. Her knee felt numb until she took a step forward, pain shot through leg. She looked down and saw the pink fabric of her suit was turning red as her blood spread around the knee.

"Terrific, I guess that means I can be hurt again." She said to herself and she turned to face the closest animal. She took in the deepest breath she could muster and let it out. It was far weaker than she had hoped for, but it was enough force to knock the female into the male, sending the pair crashing to the ground.

She turned and started hobbling toward her lion as quickly as she could manage. "_These animals are based on the ones in the movie. They claimed the T-rex could run 32 miles an hour. I can't out run them. I don't suppose it would hurt to pray for a miracle?" _She thought to herself as the Rexes roared in frustration as they regained their footing. The ground began to shake under Cindy's feet as the Rexes began to chase after her…..

**The gang:**

Carl cut to the left narrowly avoiding another attack from the red dragon. The weapons tracking beacon flashed as the red hair lines came together, forming a triangle around the dragon. Carl opened fire with his laser cannons, but the dragon extended its wings, catching the thermal drafts from the open ocean, and ascended out of sight, avoiding the attack.

Carl eased up on his thrusters, the yellow lion slowed until it was hovering. Carl checked his scopes; the dragon was nowhere to be seen. "Where did it go?" Carl asked himself. "It must have flown off for greener pastures, guys. "He said over his mike.

"I saw it heading out to sea, Carl. We'll have to deal with it later, as for now keep your eyes peeled for more enemies. Sheen and I can handle the remaining mouse." Eustace commanded as he engaged in battle with the remaining super sized mouse.

Sheen shouted "A little help would be nice guys!" His lion's jaws were clamped onto the back of the mouse's neck. The mouse twisted and turned as it attempted to free itself.

Libby came in from the side in the green lion and clamped onto the building sized mouse as well. The mouse bucked harder in reaction. "Shoot it, Eustace! Shoot it!" Sheen shouted.

"I'm on it, Sheen!" Eustace shouted back. He kept his distance and let his weapons tracking system zero in on the target. The mouse kept moving around however. "I have no shot, Sheen! If I fire I might hit you or Libby."

"That's a chance you might have to take, Eustace! I can't hold on much longer." Libby shouted back. The two lions shook violently, like a bull rider, as the mouse bucked and flailed under them.

"Neither can I, Libby's right! Hit it with an Ion blast!" Sheen shouted.

Sweat ran down Eustace's face as the worry crept through him. "Are you sure, Sheen!"

"Yes! I trust you! You can do it, Eustace!" Sheen shouted back.

"Come on, Eustace, concentrate. You can make that shot." Jet Fusion said.

"Ok I'll do it but increase the power on your front thrusters. It should allow you to pull the mouse's head backward. That will increase the size of my target." Eustace ordered.

Sheen and Libby reacted to the order. The mouse squealed as the thrusters activated. Eustace watched as the lions managed to get the mouse to rear up on its hide legs. The weapons system flashed indicating it was locked on. Eustace wasted no time and fired.

The Ion charge struck the mouse dead center of the chest, disintegrating it. "He's done it!" Libby shouted in excitement.

"Great job, Eustace, you did a fantastic job." Jet said as he patted his hand on Eustace's back. Eustace's face was flush from embarrassment.

"Jet is right. That was a great shot, Eustace. I don't think Ultra-lord could have done a better job." Sheen said.

"Nah, I didn't do anything. We all did it as a team." Eustace responded bashfully.

"Speaking of teams, has anyone seen Carl?" Libby asked.

"He's over there. My sensors show he set down near the blue lion." Sheen replied.

**Carl and Cindy:**

Cindy was hobbling as quickly as she could. She would have been dead by now if N-1 and N-2 hadn't returned to her aid. Their weapons however were proving ineffective against the awesome might of the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Fortunately,Carl had spotted Cindy on his viewing screen. He saw the approaching T-rexes and sprung into action. They were too close, to her, to safely shoot at them.

His mind raced as he rocketed toward Cindy's location. _"What am I going to do? If I fire my weapons I could risk hitting, Cindy. I wish Jimmy was here. He would know what to do." _He thought to himself. "_Oh if only I really was Lama-boy. I would know how to save her. I'm just a clumsy loser that stubbles into everything. Wait! That's it!" _He thought to himself. He aimed his lion directly at the Rexes and rocketed right into them.

The Rexes went flying off from the impact and landed right on top of Betty, where she stood watching the battle. She had the most comical look on her face as the shadow appeared over her in the sky. The last thing that went through her mind, right before the impact, was her butt.

The hypnotic hold on Jimmy was severed.

**Jimmy:**

Jimmy's control over his mind returned in a flood of confusing images. He looked around the battle field and saw it was littered with dead gargoyles and serpent men. He stared at the two large dead T-rexes that were heaped in a pile near his location. The sun glinted off the blue lion and the yellow lion a few hundred yards away. He squinted and saw Cindy and Carl. He shouted their names and ran in their direction. He could tell Cindy was hurt, by the way she was hobbling.

Despite her injuries, she found the strength to rush into Jimmy's arms.

"Jimmy!" She shouted happily.

He held her tightly for a brief moment. His hands felt damp with blood. "Cindy, you're hurt. We should really get you to a doctor." He said concerned.

"You won't get an argument out of me over that. Things could have been worse if Carl, N-1, and N-2 hadn't arrived when they did. Cindy replied.

"Thanks a lot guys. It sounds like I owe you one." Jimmy said as he supported Cindy under one arm and Carl took the other.

"Oh, great creator, we live only to serve you." N-1 replied.

"That is true, but it was our pleasure to help the creator's girlfriend. She is our friend" N-2 added.

"What do you mean, your friend? She clearly likes me better." N-1 shouted at N-2.

"I beg to differ." N-2 replied angrily.

"That's enough you two. I like the both of you equally. Cindy replied.

"Sorry, Creator's girlfriend. It really was our pleasure to help protect you." N-1 and N-2 both said.

"Yeah it was no big deal, Jim." Carl said coolly, as if it was a just a normal every day event.

"Why is the sun still red? It kind of puts a damper on my day. " Cindy said.

"It shouldn't take me long to come up with a safe means of removing the filter." He said confidently.

"I figured that as much. I guess what I'm really asking is, Is it over?" Cindy asked as she reached the ramp way entrance for her lion.

"It's over." Jimmy replied as he kissed her gently.

"Ow!" She muttered. Her busted lip stung from the pressure. "That hurts." She whispered.

"I'm sorry. We don't have to kiss until your lip heals." He offered.

She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him closely and clamped her lips to his.

"Guys?" Carl said with a slightly worried tone. They ignored him and kept kissing. "Guys, this is kind of important." He said more urgently. The kisses slowly got deeper.

"Guys? We got a problem" Carl said again, this time shaking the couple.

"What is it, Carl?" Jimmy asked finally prying himself away from Cindy.

"Look!" Carl shouted.

Jimmy stared toward where Carl pointed. He stepped down the ramp to get a better look.

The Rex corpses were glowing! The damaged limbs twitched and writhed as they seemed to be pulled into the center of the pile, until it was one slimy milky blob of flesh. The blob tore open and a cobra flopped onto the ground.

The cobra stretched its coils. It's pearl like eyes glowed with a green unnatural energy. The snake started to grow in size until it was two hundred feet long from head to the tip of its tail. It let out a high pitched screech as it raised its neck up off the ground and opened its hood.

It spoke; the voice had a reverb as if it was three voices mixed together. "You will pay for this transgression. You will now face my true form!"

"Carl, get to your lion now!" Jimmy shouted.

"You need help getting Cindy to the infirmary." Carl protested.

"I can manage on my own. Jimmy, take the controls of my lion. Here's the key." She handed him the colorful circular key.

"Are you sure, Cindy?" Carl asked.

"I'll be fine. The cockpit has full spectrum lights. My powers should kick in and I'll heal. Thanks for caring you two. But we have bigger things to worry about." She insisted. "Oh and, Carl, thanks for saving me. " She said as she gave him a hug. Carl's face went red from ear to ear, and he turned, ran and entered his lion.

Cindy strapped herself into the co-pilot seat and basked in the light. Her back and knee already were starting to feel better. She closed her eyes and listened to the familiar hum as the engines roared to life. She tried to ignore the sound of the approaching snake, despite her super hearing.

"You know I really was right about, Betty. Wasn't I, Jimmy?" Cindy asked.

"What do you mean, Cindy?" Jimmy asked.

"She really is a giant snake." She replied with a solemn expression on her face.

She could feel deep in her hear that the final battle was just starting…

To be continued…


	40. Chapter 40

A/N: Sorry I've been away for awhile. I've been busy working. I hope you enjoy the newest installment of the story.

**Jimmy and Cindy:**

Jimmy turned the dials and prepared the Blue Lion for takeoff. Cindy could see, Betty in her monstrous cobra form approaching, through the Neutronically enhanced, 6 inch thick, Plexiglas that made up the windows of the cockpit.

"Neutron, she's coming! Get us off the ground!" Cindy shouted.

"I'm trying, Vortex! The Engines take time to get to fullpower, you know." Jimmy rebutted, as he glanced out the window, the monstrous head of the snake was nearly within striking range.

"Too late, hold on!" he shouted.

Cindy closed her eyes and braced for the impact. The Lion shuddered violently. Cindy screamed out in pain, as the slice on her back rubbed roughly against her seat, and her torn up knee grinded into the control terminal.

"Are you okay?" Jimmy shouted.

"I won't be, if you don't get us away from that thing!" She replied.

The metal grinded and squealed, as Betty coiled her body around and around. He opened the thrusters, full throttle. The Lion began to ascend.

"Hold on, Cindy. I have to shake her off!" Jimmy shouted. Cindy held onto her seat restraints. Her stomach lurched slightly, as the Lion barrel rolled violently, first one way, and then the other.

"It's not working, Jimmy! She's tightening her grip around us." She shouted.

Cindy looked up just in time, to see the gaping mouth and the three foot long fangs, before the head shot forward striking the cockpit. The metal shuddered, but held firm." Cindy screamed.

"Don't worry, Cindy. I designed this Lion to withstand the crushing depths of the deepest parts of the ocean. There is no way she can penetrate the-"Jimmy's words turned into a scream, as the teeth sliced through the hull, narrowly missing him.

"You were saying?" Cindy shouted sarcastically.

"This is not the time to argue!" Jimmy shouted.

"Who's arguing? I just want to live through this." Cindy rebutted.

He looked around frantically at the control panel. His eyes found one of the Lion's outer defenses. "That's it!" He blurted out as he pressed a button marked with a little drawing of a lion with 3 lightning bolts coming out of it. The Outside of the Lion flashed with blue bolts of energy.

Betty saw a flash of white light a moment before she felt the pain. She let out a sound breaking roar, as the electricity coursed through her body. She writhed involuntarily into unconsciousness, lost her grip on the lion, and fell into the jungle two hundred feet below.

"We made it, Cindy. She's off of us." Jimmy said, not bothering to mask the relief he felt.

Cindy sighed deeply, took a moment to let her racing heart calm itself, and asked "You don't suppose she's dead do you? I can't see through the trees with my x-ray vision. I don't know if it's because my powers are that weak, or if the trees are that thick in this part of the jungle for me to see anything.

"I was wondering about that. How are your wounds?" Jimmy asked, as he turned to look at her. His face was filled with concern.

Cindy felt her cheeks flush, with embarrassment. "I'm fine, Jimmy. I really am. Look, my wounds have already healed over." She said, as she turned, she lifted up her shirt revealing her back, so he could see that she was telling the truth.

His breath caught in his throat, his eyes ran over the contours of her muscles, the shape of her ribs, down the length of her spine toward the pants line of her suit. He tried to look at her scientifically, but the increase in his pulse and his body's excitement level embarrassed him. He hadn't realized he was holding his breath until his body involuntarily made him gasp for air.

"You look absolutely amazing." His face flushed redder. "I mean you look tip top shape." He quickly turned back to his controls.

Cindy's super hearing picked up the sudden race of his heartbeat. She mentally noted that it was due to her. She considered saying something to him, but didn't want to embarrass him more than he already was. His increased pulse was an unsaid compliment and it made her grin so hard that her face hurt.

"You don't suppose she's dead do you?" She repeated her earlier question trying to change the subject.

"Not a chance. I've just picked her up on the thermal scanner. She seems to have absorbed the energy and grew even larger. " Jimmy said.

"What do we do now?" Cindy asked.

"We regroup with the others and launch and all out strike against that thing." Jimmy replied.

Jimmy turned on the telecommunication system. Their friends appeared on the screen. "Hey, Jimmy!" everyone shouted happily.

"You see everyone. I told you that Cindy had found Jimmy." Carl said proudly.

"Thanks Carl, but there is no time for a reunion's guys. Whoa, wait a minute! Is that Jet Fusion?" Jimmy asked.

"Hey there, Jimmy. How are you doing little, buddy?" Jet asked.

"Did you really come here to rescue me?" Jimmy asked.

"You bet I did. You've done the same for me when I needed you. "Jet replied.

"When this is over, why don't you two can get a room?" Libby asked.

"Libby is right old chaps, we have to carry the can, Eustace said.

"Carry the can? What the heck does that mean?" Sheen asked.

"It means to take responsibility and fix an error we made. This Betty monster is undeniably a mistake of all our making. I feel it's high time that we erase that mistake." Eustace replied.

"Guys, Betty is growing more powerful by the moment. We need to launch an attack now, while she is still stunned." Jimmy commanded.

"Right!" Everyone shouted in unison.

"So what's the plan, Captain Jimmy?" Sheen asked.

"Jimmy, she's already recovered!" Libby shouted.

"Terrific, I really need to work on my leadership skills." Jimmy said exasperated.

The monstrous cobra reared up in an attack position and faced the lions. She opened her large pearl like eyes. They were glowing green, and focused specifically on the blue lion.

"Guys, incoming attack, take Evasive action!" Jimmy shouted. The Blue lion strafed to the left, just avoiding the eye blast.

"Woah, the snake has eye blasts like the Betty creature!" Sheen shouted.

"That's because the snake is Betty you chowder head!" Cindy retorted.

"Guys please stop arguing. We have to concentrate on fighting Betty." Carl said, as he strafed to avoid an eye blast aimed at his Lion.

"Everyone shut up and let, Neutron speak!" Cindy shouted into the microphone. Everyone went silent. "Go ahead, Jimmy." She said quietly.

"Libby, Jet, and Eustace use your Ion darts to lay down suppressive fire. Sheen and Carl use your sting-ray missiles. Cindy and I will try roasting the beast with our lion torches. "Jimmy ordered.

Betty took every attack that was thrown at her and kept coming. Jimmy watched on the thermal monitor, as Betty absorbed the energy of their attacks and then reflected it back at them through her eyes.

"Nothing is working, Jimmy. Do you have any other plan in that big head of yours?" Cindy asked.

"I've been thinking. She seems to be absorbing and focusing her ranged attacks directly through her eyes. When Betty was still in human form, she was using a snake ring. Do you remember?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, it was shaped like a two headed snake. She placed our pearls into the mouths. She was focusing her power through the ring." Cindy replied.

"I don't think she was focusing her power. I think she was getting her power from the ring, and specifically from the pearls. The Problem I'm having is figuring out why the pearls have power." Jimmy said.

"Well the Pearls had power in the dream world because they're important to me. Don't you remember? They got us out of trouble a bunch of times." Cindy asked.

"Of course I remember, but that doesn't explain why they would have power now." Jimmy replied.

"When you were brainwashed, you told me that I was still connected to the Dream Injector. After you imprisoned me, I figured it was another lie. Maybe you weren't lying about that detail after all." Cindy replied.

"That's it! The Pearls are acting as a conduit, allowing Betty to alter details of the dream, and since the Earth is inside of your dream, Betty can change things on Earth. We have to get the pearls away from Betty, and then we can kill her. And we know exactly where to find the pearls." Jimmy said proudly as he tapped the monitor right over the Cobra's pearl colored eyes."

To be continued.


End file.
